Lucy Weasley and the Grail of Life
by schwans
Summary: Book Three. Harold Silvern's preachings have gotten inside the walls of Hogwarts itself. His words have begun a war between the students of the school and are stirring up old hurts. Lucy and her friends are caught in the middle of this fast growing conflict of Old and New bloodlines. They must find the source of Silvern's words within the school and silence its poison.
1. Chapter 1

_**Prologue**_

_Six years earlier_

"I'm telling you Septimus, you have no evidence to back up this theory."

"It's my idea of the origin of magical power; it does not need to make sense Audrey." Septimus Lowell was juggling one of the singing shrunken heads from his septet which was laughing manically. Audrey watched it complete a few cycles before placing the essays in two envelopes to send to the Research Society for evaluation for funding. "Besides, I'm not going to cater to Cavan Toft's whims for funding. He claimed credit for my work once; he'll never get that chance again."

Audrey nodded as she placed a sealing wax on the envelope and pressed the Septenary insignia on the desk into the wax. The runic symbol for seven surrounded by a laurel plant dried easily and Audrey placed both envelopes in her bag; she would send Hermes with them when she returned home. "I guess I'm not the only one who decided to fabricate?"

Septimus laughed heartily, "You learned that skill quickly."

Audrey went to the door of the office to check on her girls who were playing in the main part of the store, under their godmother's careful attention. It took her breath away sometimes. Both of her daughters looked like her for the most part, Lucy had her eyes. Audrey smiled at her girls who waved at her and returned to their game.

"That's called a phoenix fire Lucy; it's a good hand that means you win immediately." Molly explained to her sister who had showed her sister her hand in confusion. It was a card game Molly was trying to teach her. Cappie had taught it to Molly but had left out the gambling aspect for now. Audrey was pretty proud of how Cappie had turned out, he was working as Celeste Scully's right hand as a Diagon Enforcer and was occasionally called out by the Ministry to use his superior aim to take down dangerous criminals. He had married Serena Scoresby and they had a little boy. Though, both he and Serena had their dealings with the other side of the law, it was not anything particularly bad, that Audrey knew about anyway.

"So," Septimus began, his voice a conspiratorial whisper, "have you heard of anything of interest lately?"

"If you are asking if I have heard anything new about Silvern, then the answer is no. Not since he cornered me in the Leaky Cauldron to ask me to join his legion of mindless buffoons."

Septimus chuckled, "Did you remind him you married a pureblood, I'm sure he'll stop trying to get you to the meetings if you mention that. Just make sure I'm nearby, I want to see face and put it in my Pensieve."

"I'm not going to bring that up; Silvern only wants me in because he has heard about my being a smalltime rabble rouser during the war, said something about becoming a symbol of the cause or something of that sort, though he seems to do that to every muggleborn he wants under his thumb."

"Even without you obligations you'd be too smart for his lot."

Audrey smiled, "That's nice of you to say, but I'm still not going to bring that up next time he corners me."

Septimus sighed, "Well, it's a card to play if he starts getting really annoying."

"I need to run to the Wheeze for a few minutes, feel able to hold down the fort that long?"

Septimus looked insulted, "I've been running this place before you were even being thought about on my own. A few mere minutes will not bring the place burning to the ground."

"Just thought I'd ask. Girls, I'm going to your uncle's for a few minutes, want to come?"

Lucy made a face of complete disgust as Molly leapt to her feet and went for the door. "I want to!"

"That's fine, Lucy, behave until I get back."

Lucy nodded and as the shop door closed behind them, Gramps told Lucy he would be upstairs looking for something if she needed anything.

* * *

Seeing as Gramps had gone upstairs to browse through some old items he had in storage, Lucy was left alone downstairs to her own devices. This action usually meant finding something to read, in a bookshop that was not known for stocking children's literature. As a result, Lucy would go find something in Gramps personal library in his office. These books were formal, factual, and far thicker than anything Lucy would ever be able to find in the children's sections at other bookstores that other shop clerks seemed to intent on selling to her. Lucy found children's non-fiction to be to… cheery, even while presenting information on the most tragic of events. Skirting the details as it were.

She slipped quietly into the office with a slight grin and soft gentle steps, Lucy never made much noise when she moved she skulked about like a cat on the hunt. Gramps would not have a problem with her being in his office, Lucy was in there with him most of the time when she came to visit or be babysat. The office itself was rather messy, books, scrolls, parchment, and a pair of mismatched slippers all over the floor. Lucy carefully stepped over these obtrusive items and proceeded to Gramps desk where she was sure to find something of interest.

Lucy took a seat in the overstuffed chair and examined the books stacked in piles on the desktop, reading the titles on the spines for something of interest, stopping only when she came upon something strange that made her stop and pull a book off the top of the pile.

The book had no title on either the cover or the spine, and seemed to be handmade with is tough leather cover. As Lucy turned it over and examined it before her eyes as she touched it, in place of a title on the front cover, it had a rune of sealing on the cover that bore a strange resemblance to dried blood. It was heavy and smelled old and a bit musty. Lucy had no idea Gramps was into horror novels. She had no idea if he read fiction at all actually. With a smile, Lucy opened the book, hearing the telling crack from the spine that despite the book's age, it was not falling apart. The hair on her arms stood as she began to read the contents.

It was a strange, surreal experience. Lucy felt like she was floating, and the time itself seemed to speed up and slow down at the same time. Everything she read was fascinating, this book contained strong magical spells that seven year old Lucy had never encountered or heard of before. She would silently mouth the words of the spell on the page before her, feeling their power without even saying the words.

She heard a voice, but it was only her in the room. It sounded rough and raspy from lack of use and it made her blood curl and grow cold in shock. _"Say it… The spell… You have the power… use it…" _A terrible smell began to rise from the book as Lucy found her voice and began to speak.

"_Ascendio mal_-"

"Lucy, I have a job for-," Gramps voice sounded very odd and distant, farther than the four feet away from her he actually was. "Put that down!" He tapped his staff on the floor and the chair came up into the air and slammed back to the floor, snapping Lucy out of her trance. And she was able to close the book and put it in her lap as Gramps stormed over looking angrier than Lucy had ever seen him before. He reached out with an open hand; Lucy obeyed this silent order and held out the book only to have it snatched from her hands. "I don't ever want to see you with this book again."

Lucy nodded eyes wide and shaking slightly as she got to her feet and took off out the door of the office, through the shop and into the street. She was scared, Lucy knew Gramps would never hurt her, but his anger only fueled the feelings she had when she finally closed the book and returned it to his hand. A strange sense of fear. For some strange reason, she was unable to remember anything she had read or what she was saying when Gramps walked into the office.

She walked through the crowd of people in the alley, passing a dark haired boy around Molly's age who was talking to a woman who Lucy presumed was his mother. Lucy pressed on, willing the tremble in her knees to cease and steady so that she no longer felt like she would fall over. Maybe she should find mum? No, mum would coddle her and as nice as that would be, it would not help her recover the memory of what she had read in the book. Perhaps it was one of those cursed books that made sure the owner could never remember the contents of it? That had to be it! No wonder Gramps had freaked out about it, Lucy could have read that thing forever if she had finished speaking. She laughed, attracting the attention of a couple of passersby who moved on with a shrug.

Feeling her knees were no longer likely to give way beneath her, Lucy turned to walk back to the Septenary, her hands stuffed in the pockets of her robes.

There were screams from farther up the alley, flashes of light and people shouting curses as a herd of people came running in Lucy's direction. Lucy tensed, panicked and ran with the crowd deeper into the alley as multicolored spells went off behind her. She was jostled and nearly knocked over by the adults who were trying to get to safety. One woman knocked Lucy against a shop wall so hard she would later notice the blue and green bruising on her shoulder and back. Lucy stopped against the wall and looked at her surroundings as she crouched behind a crate of newt eyes.

There were people in black robes who were appearing to be the source of the chaos and attacking innocent people. Lucy made herself as small as she could behind the crate as she saw a man in a gold mask casually stroll into the middle of the conflict like there was nothing unusual going on and casually stand there and defend himself against attacks that strayed in his direction. Lucy trembled in terror and moved back into a small alleyway between the shops behind her and ducked behind a rubbish bin, peering out with a morbid curiosity of what was happening and to make sure nothing caught her unaware.

The man in the gold mask had finally joined the fight, hitting the boy Lucy had seen earlier with a jet of green light causing him to crumple to the ground and move no more, his mother screamed his name "Jack!" and ran to the body sobbing before the man leveled his wand and killed her as well. He turned his head towards the alley where Lucy was hiding behind the rubbish bin. Lucy pressed herself against the wall numbly, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.

She remained there until the noise had ceased and her mum found her an hour later.

* * *

"Molly, stay here with your uncle!" Audrey shoved her daughter into George's arms and took off out the door leaving her brother in law calling out after her as she took off into the chaos. Knocking a black clad woman into the shield charm behind her that gave her a nasty shock and caused her to fall to the ground unconscious. Audrey rushed over to the person holding up the street wide charm. "Septimus, where's Lucy?"

"I thought she was –over there you ruddy bastard!- with you." A man was trying to bring down Septimus' shield charm from the other side was thrown back into a rubbish bin.

"I left her with you!"

"She wandered off a few minutes ago, went down towards the other end of the Alley."

Audrey took off at a run down the alley her breathing tense and heart racing. Her child was in this somewhere. She thought this was over with. The only noise that reached her ears through the chaos was the sound of her footsteps on the ground below and her heart hammering its way out of her chest. Audrey ducked around a dueling pair to find herself facing someone she never wanted to see again.

Audrey felt a raw, primal terror rising in her throat, a scream that could not escape. He had not changed in the years since they had last seen each other. His mask was the same one he had worn during the post war Ministry attack that had left Lucia to slowly go blind and sent Audrey and a number of others to the hospital. He had fled afterwards, leaving no one with any possible idea as to his whereabouts.

"It's been a while, how are you Audrey?"

She reached for her wand, not wanting to answer any questions without it in her hand.

"Is that any way to treat an old friend?"

"You're no friend of mine." Audrey snapped, her wand now in her hand, the violence around them failing to reach her ears and eyes as she stared him down. "I really don't think you have any friends left after what you did."

"Many of my friends are outside the old circle. Can you say the same? Or are you still hiding?"

Audrey shifted her feet so she could move easier when they started dueling. Septimus had always put emphasis on unpredictability and footwork when he taught her to duel. Also to be aware of her surroundings, there was more than one way to take an opponent down then with a flashy curse.

There was a large brick a few feet away, a broken board that appeared to have a very sharp point, but those would be very messy…

"Audrey, you know what I'm after, just a little item that is of no use to you or the old man."

"It's long gone, Septimus destroyed as soon as he got the chance."

"You are lying." The trickling sound of water reached Audrey's ears over the roar of the battle around her. She moved her right foot and found it in the middle of a puddle that was flowing down from up the street. Audrey had always had a talent for water based spells…

Audrey moved her arm in an overreaching arch over her head, pulling the water at her feet into the air with a thought, only to drop it as a violet curse flew by her ear causing her to hit the building wall next to her. She rolled out of the way of the next spell the traitor threw her way. Leaping to her feet, Audrey retaliated with a stinging hex and a stunner, before being thrown back into a wall by a wind charm. A bright white light flashed behind her eyes as her head collided with the brick wall, fighting through the pain and the tears in her eyes, Audrey stood and deflected a hex from her former ally.

"Audrey, I really don't want to kill you, I respect you but sometimes, people need to do things that are regrettable." Audrey could practically hear his smile at the words. He stepped forward, "Just tell me everything and I will let you live."

A chill of terror shot through Audrey's spine, images of her husband, daughters and family sped through her mind at light speed. She had to get back to them, she just had to. Audrey Evelyn Weasley would not die here! Act now or die.

A sense of peace overcame her senses, the tension left her body. Audrey would go down fighting; she was at peace with this decision. If she lived or died, she would know she had done her best to bring this monster with her. The girls would be fine; they would be loved and cared for by that large extended family, plenty of people to care for them and give them the love that she would not be able to.

With a flick of her wand, Audrey knocked him back and ran forward for a counter strike, dodging a blue spell he had sent her way and countering with a blasting hex at the wall next to him. He moved out of the way quickly and used another wind charm to blast Audrey away and into a nearby puddle of water causing her to nearly be trampled by people who were clearing the area. He walked forward with intent and purpose in every step, his wand pointed directly at Audrey's heart.

Audrey could hear him talking but she could not make out the words through the rumbling crowd. The only thing Audrey heard was the beginning of one of the world's most feared spells. "Ava-"

She flicked her wand upwards towards the cloudy sky.

"-da-"

The water began to rise.

"Ked-"

It froze to a point that appeared incredibly sharp.

"Av-"

The sharpened ice rose through the air faster than Audrey thought possible and severed Nolan Odell's hand from his body. His wand clattered to the ground and he gave a scream that Audrey would not forget as he caressed the stub, he composed himself enough to pry the wand from his severed hand and apparate away.

He had learned something that day. He had learned that Audrey was a far more dangerous opponent that he had given her credit for. He was in no hurry to challenge her again. If he could wipe her off the face of the earth without dueling her directly, it would be far safer than the alternative. No Face now knew that Audrey was no longer the sweet, clever, and angry girl he had betrayed many years ago, she was now a woman who would not hesitate to kill him if he crossed her again.

Though he also had his doubts that Audrey possessed the will to knowingly take someone else's life, no matter the crime. What was worrying was that Audrey had the shown the power needed to commit this act. Though will and ability were two very different things, he was not willing to take that risk again in a hurry.

He only had one hand left.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Yes, you read that right. *evil laugh*_

_I know this is early, but this has been done for a month. And I decided I may as well get started._


	2. The Boy in The Kitchen

_**Chapter One: The Boy in the Kitchen**_

It was four-thirty in the morning at the country home of Lucy Weasley. It was a Saturday, and even this early anyone could tell that it was shaping up to be a beautiful summer day. If they were awake and looking out their windows in any case. Upstairs, Audrey was awakened by a series of muffled shuffles and bangs from downstairs. The unlikely noises coming from her kitchen at this ungodly hour, she sat up stiff as a board and reached over to the other side of the bed and shook her husband's shoulder. "Percy! Wake up!"

Percy rolled over and buried himself deeper under the blankets and groaned as he put the pillow over his head. "It's to early..."

"There's someone downstairs!" Percy sat up after that statement and reached for his glasses and wand on the bedside table. Audrey's wand was already in her hand and her feet were in the tattered pink bunny slippers she refused to replace as she moved for the door. Percy motioned her back and opened the door and stepped into the hall first.

A few steps into the hall and both of the girls simultaneously poked their heads out of their rooms. Molly looked like she has just woken up; Lucy had a rather bright eyed and curious expression on her face. It was Lucy who spoke first, "What's going on?"

"Go back in your rooms and stay there until we say otherwise," he directed in a low whisper as he took the first step down the stairs.

Lucy and Molly looked at each other, shrugged and followed their parents down with their wands drawn, keeping a few steps between them and their parents. They soon reached the kitchen where Grimalkin was sitting on the counter observing a figure in a dark cloak that was standing in front of the counter obscuring the view of the breadbox. Molly gasped and stepped on the creaky stair, drawing the attention of her parents and the figure who had a half eaten roll in each hand. It spoke after he swallowed his bite of bread, "Hi Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley."

There was a rush of relief through the room as Lucy's parents lowered their wands and Lucy's dad said the intruder's name, "Ollie." Then Percy and Audrey stepped aside so the girls could get off the staircase. Lucy came down first and perked up at the sight of her friend, before remembering how early it was and the fact her parents thought it was a burglar. So Lucy settled for yawning and waving from her position at the bottom of the stairs. "How did you get in the house? We weren't expecting you for another few hours." Molly had slumped herself against the wall and observed the scene through sleep heavy eyes her auburn hair resting on her shoulders. She looked ready to go back to sleep standing up.

"Lucy told me about the spare key you hid under the oak tree in the back garden in her last letter. My grandparents had a small family emergency and dropped me off a few hours early." Ollie beamed, picking his bag up off the floor as skipped over to shake Lucy's parents hands and then turned and gave Lucy a look one would equate with a puppy. "So, where am I sleeping?"

Percy's expression changed from one of mild confusion to something stern and protective that Lucy was very familiar with. He took two steps forward, putting both hands on Ollie's shoulders turned him away from Lucy and marched him to the living room. "The couch, you are sleeping on the couch, and we are going to lay down some ground rules. You will stay out of my daughters' rooms; if you must talk it will be in a public part of the house where Audrey and I can see you."

"What brought that on?" Molly asked sleepily as she started making her way up the stairs with her mum and Lucy behind her.

"Your father is realizing that you are both growing up a little too fast for his liking."

"Didn't you fix up the guest room for him?" Molly asked as she stopped at her door, her hand on the handle as she looked back at her mum.

"It's four-thirty in the morning; he can bunk on the couch for a few hours. Ollie's young, I doubt it will do him long term harm." Audrey paused, her eyes moving to the stairs. "Besides, would you want to remind your father of that fact at the moment?"

There were murmurs and mumbles of "No," and "Not really," in response.

The older woman smiled at her daughters, "Then we won't mention it until later. Sleep tight, girls."

Molly walked into her room and closed the door behind her; Lucy made for her room across the hall and curled up under her quilt. She would worry about being a good host in a couple of hours.

* * *

Breakfast in Lucy's home was always the same routine. Her mum would make a valiant effort to scramble eggs without burning the eggs or setting the house ablaze, Lucy's father would start his morning crossword while making coffee, Molly would read something out of her medical magazines and usually Lucy would curl up with a novel on the couch. With Ollie in the mix for the next week, the routine was different and it made Lucy a bit queasy.

This was quite the opposite of any regular morning, Ollie was engaging Lucy's mum in a conversation about some of the plants in the garden while playing with the radio to try and find out the Quidditch news despite the newspaper on the table. Like Lucy, Ollie was up early and ready to greet the day, but unlike Lucy he did not like to read in the morning preferring louder activities.

"You have a lovely garden Mrs. Weasley; your vegetables look great."

"Thank you Ollie, the secret's in the soil."

"Yeah, good fertilizer does wonders; I think you have a nice layout for baby mandrakes. The market for them is growing."

"To busy for them, teenaged mandrakes are a pain, they get really into heavy metal." Audrey began dispensing scrambled eggs on to the plates she had set on the counter. "Besides, there's the small fact there cries can kill when they reach maturity. Eggs are up."

Lucy and Molly got to their feet and placed the plates of eggs on the table and took their seats, Ollie took the hint and turned off the radio to take his seat next to Lucy.

"What about gnomes?" Ollie asked reaching for a piece of toast and jam that was inconveniently placed in the middle of the table.

"As long as we have Jives, I don't think we need to worry about gnomes."

"Who's Jives?" He began to eat his eggs as he looked around the table.

Lucy's father answered after he took a sip of his coffee, "Jives is a Jarvey that lives on the other side of the fence out back."

"He's been there for years, Jives is the reason why dad has a sign in the backyard that warns against feeding wild animals," Molly elaborated as she put jam on her toast.

Audrey fidgeted in her seat as Percy sent a pointed look in her direction. "He was hungry, and pitiful looking."

Lucy turned her attention to her eggs, this was an old disagreement that had been rehashed a number of times.

"That was seven years ago, Audrey. Care to explain why he hasn't left?"

Lucy ate quickly, she had heard it all before, but Ollie was watching the debate with interest while he nibbled his toast.

* * *

The Leaky Cauldron had maintained a slightly grubby but comfortable appearance, that Lucy held true for all of the pubs she had visited (which was very few) over the years. Flooing into Diagon would take one here to Hannah Longbottom's humble pub and attentive care if one wanted to stay for a while. Lucy stepped out of the fireplace quickly, and a couple of seconds later Ollie followed, staggering out with one hand in his pocket, to keep track of the pocket money his family had given him before they had dropped him off that morning.

"C'mon Ollie, I can't wait for you to meet Gramps." Lucy made a beeline for the door that would take them to Diagon Alley, sparing a wave for Hannah and Professor Longbottom as she went through the door, Ollie hot on her heels. She tapped the brick wall and was through it before it had even finished opening and threw herself into the massive throng of people buying school supplies. Lucy and Ollie would take care of that this afternoon with Lute and Aubrey, the four of them would be together for the first time all summer and it was going to be a nice day trip, they all had a lot of catching up to do.

"Lucy wait up!" Ollie called as he followed her into the crowd, reaching for her hand so he would not get separated. His fingers brushed hers before he pulled his hand back quickly. They were older now; these things took a different meaning with age. Besides, Lucy was continuing to walk at a very rapid pace, but now she was in Ollie's sight so he followed her like a pilot fish.

She stopped in front of a fairly new looking building that was build with a combination of stonework and wood with a sign swinging over the door that had the words _Septenary Book Sellers_ swinging for all passersby to see. The building was of average shop size aside from the three story height, which indicated at least one person lived there. A number of years ago the size could be explained away as it used to be a boarding house. Now only Gramps and Aunt Lucia lived here. Lucy leapt up the stone steps and stopped in front of the door, her hand was already on the handle.

Ollie spoke, "Hey Luce," he pointed at a couple of engravings on the door frame. "What is this?" Lucy fingered with the clasp on her cloak, one of the engravings looked like the tree cloak clasp Gramps had given her before she had left for school for her first year, she was currently wearing it so she could make this observation with complete certainty. The other was the Septenary emblem that Lucy's mum and Gramps put on their research documentation.

"That is the Septenary symbol; mum and Gramps put it on all of their paperwork. That thing there is the runic symbol for seven. Gramps is a bit obsessed with the properties of the number seven." Lucy smiled awkwardly, realized how odd that may sound to outsiders. "I have no clue what that other thing is."

"That other thing my dear, is something you should know." A gruff voice said from behind the two teenagers, sounding over the rumble of the crowd and the sound of wood tapping on stone, "That symbol is one of magical protection, those who come here and ask for aid shall receive it, those who wish harm to those who dwell here shall be fought to the last breath. It's a way to be identified as a safe haven and identify a person closely associated with one in case they ever need help."

"Gramps!" Lucy exclaimed with a wide smile, before remembering her manners. "Ollie, this is my grandfather Septimus Lowell. Gramps this is Ollie Wood, the friend I told you about."

Ollie and Gramps looked at each other for a moment; Lucy felt an uncertainty settle in her gut. Gramps was tough, abrasive, and rather paranoid. He liked people; he just was not too sure about most of them. Ollie responded to Gramps intrusive stare with an even, but wide-eyed, gaze and a firm handshake. As their hands parted Gramps grinned, "You'll do."

"Do for what?"

"Well, I have some things that need to be done around the shop while I step out to run a couple of errands. Lucia's babysitting my other grandchildren and I need someone here who does not enjoy the firepower of pyrotechnics." Gramps looked pointedly across the street where Roxanne and Fred were playing with something from the joke shop that seemed to periodically burst into flames. Lucy held the door open for him as he strode into the shop with the children following. "I'll leave you two to your own devices and I'll be back in a few minutes. Lucy knows what needs to be done so she'll tell you what to do and you will do it no questions asked. If you mention anything out of the ordinary you find here," Gramps turned and looked at Ollie with a grimly serious expression. "I'll find out. Then I'll have to kill you." He smiled pleasantly and looked at the clock. "We'll let that sink in. I have a few minutes before I need to leave." Gramps pointed at the crates on the floor, "In the meantime, I need my shelves restacked."

Lucy and Ollie snapped to attention and proceeded to open the crates. Lucy began to sort the books by genre and where they would have to go in the shop. She gave Ollie directions of where things went and how the shop was run and whispered a few stories about some of her adventures with the old man to try and stop the boy's glances of mild terror in his direction. The stories were of no help to Ollie who was now looking at Gramps with a mixture of horror and curiosity as the old man sat at the counter taking notes.

"Lucy, could you go find the head that likes to roll around my office? It's making a racket and I don't need it annoying customers or catching attention."

"Sure thing Gramps," Lucy replied as she set down the stack of books she was putting away on the counter and walked into Gramps office and closed the door behind her so it would not escape. She got down on her knees and whistled, almost sarcastically, for the shrunken head. There was no noise in response. "Here head," she called lowly, before whistling again. "Here boy." Still nothing.

Lucy got to her feet and stretched as her curious eyes wandered the office. It was here that Gramps did his research and spent much of his time when he was not in the shop or out and about. The walls were built in bookshelves that were packed with books of all kinds. History, Literature, Biographies of famous wizards, wizarding folklore, and the other three walls were covered in books about magic. Diagrams and papers with half thought through statements covered the wood floor and small wooden crates that were stacked around the room. Lucy knew there was a filing cabinet buried behind a stack of crates in the far right corner. There were many places for a shrunken head to hide here, it would come out soon. For now, Lucy let her eyes wander the shelves and her fingers trail over the leather spines with gentle care.

_Morganna's Magnificent Mistake, Final Rise of the Dark Arts, Secret Organizations of the Second War_, Lucy's hand lingered on the last book for a moment before walking onward. _Magic's Might, The Ambiguity of Artimista Albane, Supreme Sorcerers and their Signature Spells, Lost Magical Items… _Lucy suddenly stopped and moved her hand off the book it was resting on. It was on a shelf that was just above her head and had no title on the spine. It seemed familiar in a way. Comforting, like someone she had known her whole life that she shared a familial connection with.

Her hand reached for it, as if some force compelled her to do so. Fingers running lovingly over the spine before pulling it gently off of the shelf and into her hands, Lucy gasped. The book was familiar in another way; she had seen it and held it in her hands many years ago. It was exactly the same as when she was seven, the soft tattered leather cover, firm binding, and the reddish brown rune of sealing on the cover that strangely resembled dried blood…

A soft chill swept through her body as her shoulders relaxed and her mind stilled. There was nothing else but the book. The book's musty odor filled her nostrils, the feeling of old yellowed pages in her hands making a soft noise of age each time she turned a page to let her eyes see the words within. A crackling power echoed through her bones and light flashed behind her eyes.

_So close now… _

"Alright in there Lucy?" Gramps voice sounded from the other side of the door.

Lucy stepped back quickly and tripped over the head she had been sent in to look for. It cackled madly as it rolled in circles around Lucy. "Yes, I'm okay. I found the head!"

"Good, I'm taking off and I need you come watch the counter while I go to Gringotts and meet up with Raguk he says he has something to show me."

"I'll be right out." Lucy called back as grabbed the head before it could escape and disappear into the mess of an office again. She tucked it under her arm and looked around on the floor for the book she had been reading a few moments before. There was nothing on the floor but old papers and no sign of the book. "What?" Lucy turned her eyes up to the shelf above and found the book was back where she had first seen it, appearing as though it had never moved or been read in recent memory. Lucy's flesh crawled as she held the head close to her chest and rushed out of the office.

As the door closed behind her, the Book of the Dead twitched as its power receded and its illusion broke.

* * *

Lucy plopped herself behind the counter and began to rummage through the drawers as she put the head on the counter for a moment so she could look for something to give it to play with upstairs. Lucy settled on a rubber ball she had found in one of the drawers before scooping up the head and heading for the stairs to take the head back to the attic and put it back with the others. This one was particularly clever at getting downstairs into the shop area. The stairs moaned and creaked and Lucy climbed to the top floor and walked down the hall to the attic door.

The attic was not a fairly crowded room as Gramps had a lot of extra space all over the house to use. Lucy knew her mum kept a few of the family's things over here in storage, little things for Molly and Lucy when they moved out on their own. A decorated chest, a couple of small wooden boxes, and few other house items. Cackles from a far back corner caught Lucy's attention as she set the head down, gave it a pat and rolled the ball towards the noise before walking out the door and closing it tightly behind her before taking the stairs at a run to get back to the counter as Gramps would not appreciate a deserted post.

Upon arriving back downstairs she found Ollie talked animatedly with a familiar head of inky black hair.

"I then told the bass player that I was fully able to play any song from memory after only hearing it one time, and I was very sure that they were using variations of the devil in the music at some point in each of their songs. He then called me a precocious little girl and sent me on my way with a shirt." The figure turned to let Ollie examine the souvenir. "The nerve, but at least the shirt is wicked."

Lucy caught the girl's eye as she stopped turning and gave an excited squeal of "Lucy!" before bounding up half a flight of stairs to through her arms around Lucy's neck and almost sent them both tumbling down the stairs to surely break their necks.

"Hello Lute," Lucy gasped as she felt the air return to her lungs. It had been a few weeks since she had last seen her as Lute and her father had been traveling around performing over the summer. From the spark in her blue eyes and the Baba Yaga shirt she was wearing she must have just gotten back to London within the hour. "I take it your trip went well."

"Very," Lute took her arm and pulled Lucy the rest of the way down the stairs. "I'm so floo-lagged I'm not even tired."

"Did you have coffee again?" Lucy asked dryly, Lute was not supposed to have lots of caffeine. It made her bounce off walls.

"That was one time, which I apparently do not even remember what happened."

Ollie spoke up, changing the subject of the conversation. "So when's Aubrey going to get here?"

Lute sighed, "Aubrey could not make it, his father's on an assignment and he's staying with a muggle relative until he comes back. He says we'll see him on the train for sure though."

The door opened and drew the children's attention to Septimus who came back inside looking rather agitated and clutching his cane in a white knuckled grip. He caught a look from the children and seemed to force himself into a more chipper mood. "How was Glasglow Lute?"

"Great! I would love to go back, that city is just so…" She sighed dreamily before snapping out of her state and back to reality. "You two want to get some ice cream or something?"

Lucy looked at Gramps, whose eyes darted from the young people in front of him before relenting. "I'll tell your mum where you went but don't wander off alone or together to do stupid things."

"We won't," The children said in response with identical grins of trouble that Septimus was far too familiar with. Lucy's friends ran out the door while Lucy stopped to hug him goodbye.

"Hey Lucy, how's that Spyglass working for you?"

Lucy froze and her gut turned to ice. Some Gryffindor she was. She had not been able to tell Gramps about what had happened to the Spyglass breaking last year. About the sphere inside that was the source of the Spyglass's power that worked better without the outer shell protecting it from harm. Now was not a good time, but she may never get the opportunity to mention it again. She should be honest with him the way she was with people she disliked.

"Works great Gramps!"

But Lucy could not do it.

With that statement, Lucy was out the shop door with her friends. She doubted he would be angry, the source of the Spyglass' power still worked and actually worked better than before the imperioused Albus had used a trip jinx to make her fall down the stairs, but he may be disappointed in his mistake to trust Lucy with such a powerful item.

Lucy thought the full weight of his disappointment was something she did not want to experience.

Walking a few paces slower than the average person meant lagging behind her friends so she could focus on what was bothering her; she should just spit it out. Next time she visits for sure. Though Lucy knew that that would not possibly happen. She was not actually lying, but she still felt deceitful.

Ollie and Lute had stopped outside the Fortescue's and waited for Lucy to catch up. Lucy stood behind them and looked at the menu without really seeing it.

"Butterscotch sounds pretty good." Lute said.

"Chocolate Frog Leg, complete with only the legs of Chocolate frogs." Lucy could hear Ollie salivating. "Well my decision is made."

"I think I'll have that too." Lucy mumbled as she reached for her pouch of money. Ollie shook his head before taking out his own.

"I'll pay; you two can grab a table." He smiled and walked towards the counter with a wide grin.

With Ollie gone, Lute turned her full attention to Lucy as she grabbed her arm and dragged her to one of the tables outside and sitting down. "Ollie's quite the gentleman." Lucy nodded, not really paying attention to the conversation. "Strange but nice, is that requirement for people we hang around with?"

Lucy snapped back to reality at the comment. "Must be, most people who are considered normal don't give us the time of day."

"Normal people don't interest me; I like my friends to be a little quirky."

"How is Aubrey quirky?" Lucy asked as she thought of Aubrey as the most normal member of the Order of the Grim.

"Aubrey is not particularly chatty; he rarely raises his hand in class, and has openly admitted to me that he collects muggle money. He's also got that weird knack for finding hidden rooms, remember? If that is not slightly odd I do not know what is."

"I'll bite, how are Ollie and I quirky? I think I am what would be considered normal."

Lute grinned. "Okay Lucy, how do you organize your bookshelf at home?"

"By author and subcategorized by genre, and if the book is in a series I make sure that they are all in order."

Lute blinked, "Yeah most people don't do that."

Lucy was about to open her mouth to retort when Ollie arrived carrying a tray of large ice creams. "Here you go." He set it on the table and took the empty seat next to Lucy. "Enjoy."

The girls thanked Ollie and dug in, all troubles disappearing from Lucy's thoughts.

* * *

A half hour later they were walking around Diagon Alley, clutching their stomachs and bemoaning the fact that they had eaten all of that ice cream in such a greedy manner. They walked, looked in windows, moaned in pain when they passed the food displays and watched the crowds walk by. The crowds seemed excited about something, they were all chattering on about someone's speech.

Lucy's eyes widened behind her horn-rimmed glasses as a middle aged witch and her husband passed by. It wasn't the people that caught her attention; it was what they were discussing.

"Silvern has a point you know. These muggleborn murders have me nervous. Has the Ministry even got a clue who's behind it?"

"I bet they do, like Silvern says, and just don't want to do anything about it. No magical name to uphold and protect and all of that jazz."

Silvern was here? Giving a speech. They should all go back to the Septenary. Now.

But maybe Lucy was feeling rebellious and curious and that itself was never a good combination of feelings to have.

"Hey Lucy, I see your mum." Ollie said as he pointed a woman who looked like an older version of Lucy trying to get through the crowd unnoticed clutching a brown paper package in her hands. She was politely muttering apologizes to every person she was knocked into. Lucy and her friends walked over to her mum to walk back with her to the shop.

Audrey smiled and waved at them and made to walk over to meet them halfway when she was tapped on the shoulder and turned around to see who it was. Lucy recoiled in shock and observed the discussion with interest as they walked a little closer so it would be easier to listen.

Lucy had only gotten a good in person look at Harold Silvern once last year, when he was hosting an underground dueling tournament that Gramps had taken her and Molly to watch until it was broken up by Enforcer Celeste Scully. Gramps had told her and Molly to avoid him, Lucy thought he had a face like a frog from a distance and thought it again while looking at Silvern at a closer proximity. She shrugged and came to the better conclusion that with his round face and small eyes he looked more like a beady eyed pig; Gramps would say he looked like a wizarding lawyer and just as untrustworthy.

"Ah, Audrey," Silvern said with a bright dazzling smile.

"It's Mrs. Weasley." Audrey corrected her tone polite, as Lucy covered her mouth to hide her smile, her mother moving in front of her and her friends. Ollie's eyes had brightened and he was looking at Lucy's mum with a large smile.

Silvern waved his hand dismissively, "There's so many of them it's easier to call you all by your given name."

"But I'm the only one in the vicinity."

Lucy turned her back by that point and tried to shove her fist into her mouth to prevent the sounds of laughter from escaping. Lute threw her arm over her and Ollie's shoulders and turned them both to face the stage and put a small group of people between themselves and Silvern so Lucy could snicker in peace. Lucy had doubled over and was taking deep breaths to calm herself down.

Lucy looked up to the rooftops over Silvern's stage and saw a dark figure crouching behind the banner dangling from the roof. The figure was slight and slender with a mess of blonde hair poking out of the hood of its cloak, watching the proceedings below with intense interest, a knife in hand. Lucy paused, what was Aunt Serena doing?

"As I was saying Audrey," Silvern continued, as Lucy looked over at him. He had his back to Lucy's aunt as he spoke to Lucy's mother who looked like she would rather be anywhere else or beating Silvern over the head with something heavy. "I would like to hear your opinion on the matter of the Ministry's lack of open information on this supposed serial killer of Muggleborns like us?"

"I have plenty, but I will not be sharing those opinions with you."

Lucy nudged Ollie with her elbow as he watched the exchange between the two adults. Ollie's voice was a hushed whisper, "I like your mum. She's making it kind of obvious she wants Silvern to fall into a deep hole and die but he just can't take a hint."

"Yeah, Audrey's pretty cool." Lute added adjusting her t-shirt.

Lucy ignored the conversation about her mum and focused on the figure on the rooftops. Silvern surely had a lot of enemies. Assassination maybe? Why would Aunt Serena be trying to kill someone if that was the case? Her husband was a local Enforcer

The figure moved, still in a crouched position, her face to the sun as if checking the time. A grey cloud turned the alley grey and with a swipe of her blade the banner began to fall. A few people in the crowd screamed and began to run away, but the banner floated peacefully to the ground without causing any harm or damage to any person in the vicinity. There was only one person Lucy knew of in Diagon Alley who preferred blades to severing charms. Lucy caught a quick glance of Serena's retreating figure fleeing over the rooftops.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__I'm back everyone and posing questions early. *Evil cackle* _

_I like to think Audrey's learned a good bit of verbal smackdown from Septimus over the years. Though she uses her skill for good instead of evil, Silvern's lucky that she's much nicer then her mentor. _


	3. Slug Club

_**Chapter Three: Slug Club**_

Lucy felt her stomach lurch as the car took an unnaturally tight turn causing her to crash into Ollie who was turning a shade of bright green that matched his eyes. He leaned on Lucy as the car made another turn, Grimalkin's paw reaching out of the carrier to claw his jacket. Lucy in turn found herself on Molly's shoulder, eyeballing Molly's owl Socrates who was glowering at her from his cage with his large dark eyes.

"Are we almost there?" Molly asked, looking at Ollie nervously, "I think Ollie's gonna puke."

There was a groan from Ollie who had now managed to open the window and hang his head out like a dog.

"Just another couple of minutes, hang in there Ollie." Audrey said from the front passenger seat. "If you're going to puke don't do it in the car."

He groaned again in response as Grimalkin turned his attention to Socrates who gave a hoot of indigence as Grimalkin's paw reached through the bars of his cage. Lucy reached over to rub Ollie's back like her mum did when she and Molly were not feeling well. It did not seem to have the same effect as Ollie just brought his knees to his chest and mumbled Quidditch rankings under his breath as a mantra.

Another sharp turn and the car stopped suddenly in front of Kings Cross station. Ollie shot out of the car like her had been shot out of a cannon and fell to his knees on the sidewalk shaking and trying to collect himself. Lucy could understand this odd behavior in a logical way, Ollie had never ridden in a car before. Lucy helped him to his feet after he had collected himself. The driver shook his head and loaded the trunks onto the carts he had gotten from the entrance, tipped his hat at her mum and climbed back into the car to drive away.

"This way children, we have twenty minutes to get you situated." Audrey called waving her daughters and Ollie after her as she walked into the station. Molly rushed to keep pace with her mum leaving Ollie and Lucy alone to talk.

"Remind me, what else did you sign up for besides Care of Magical Creatures?" Ollie asked, sticking a finger in Grimalkin's carrier as the cat licked his fingers as a sign of affection.

"I signed up for Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies."

"How many of those classes did you sign up for to please family members?" Ollie asked coyly.

"I thought Muggle Studies would make mum and Grandfather happy, Creatures was something I wanted to take, Ancient Runes would be easy, and Dad recommended Arithmancy. After fifth year we'll be dropping classes, so it'll only be kind of rough for a couple of years. Why would you ask that?"

Ollie shrugged, "You've always been a bit stiff with your cousins around. Like you're waiting for an opening to do something they never did."

Lucy snorted in an unladylike fashion. She liked to eavesdrop on family members; it was not a big deal if they all happened to be discussing personal successes at the time. Victoire had gotten all O's and two E's on her N.E.W.T.s. All O's except for one E on her O.W.L.s two years ago. Lucy knew she could do better than that. She intended to. "What did you sign up for this year?"

"Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies. I almost took Divination, but…"

"I know what you're saying. I don't put much stock in fortune telling." The memory of Nicodemus Singleir telling her fortune a year ago flooded her mind. It was not really fortune telling, he was mostly speculating her personality by her outward appearances and her by the wood of her wand. Except when he read her palm, but that was normal fortune tellers and not, to Lucy's limited knowledge of the subject, very accurate.

They arrived at the wall separating platforms nine and ten. Audrey motioned Molly through first then sent Lucy and Ollie after her before following them through herself.

The platform was abuzz with activity as it always was on September first. Lucy saw Dominique adjusting her Captain's badge and talking with the other members of last year's Quidditch team. Dominique had gone through some radical physical changes over the summer after Victoire had began working for Gringotts a few weeks after she received her N.E.W.T.s. Dominique had cut her long strawberry blonde hair short and close to her skull in a boy cut. She had done it behind her parents back and unveiled it at the Burrow over dinner one evening and the blow up that followed was amazing. Aunt Fleur and Dominique began yelling in French at such a rapid pace that Louis stopped translating for his dad a few minutes in and promptly left the room to go hide somewhere until it was time to leave while Uncle Bill tried to calm them both down and get them both to start speaking English so he could understand them better. He ultimately failed in this goal and the rest of the evening was unusually quiet.

Ollie looked at Dominique and her Quidditch teammates for a moment with a faraway expression on his face. Lucy followed his gaze and decided he was thinking about Quidditch before grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the compartments so they could unload their things before the train left. Lucy and Ollie found Audrey and Molly loading Molly's trunk into a compartment. Audrey was stacking everything neatly with a flick of her wand. She observed the other two children with a smile. "Do you two want some help with those?"

They nodded and Audrey piled the trunks neatly with a smooth swish and flick of her wand. Each movement had a purpose and none was wasted. Gramps said her had taught her mum how to duel, and it showed with each confident flick and slash of her wand. Lucy wanted to be that graceful with her own wandwork someday. In that moment, she realized she wanted to learn how to duel. She would have to ask Gramps about teaching her something over break.

Until then, there may be books in the library to quench her interest.

Lucy was caught off guard as her mum swooped down to kiss her on the cheek and pull her into a warm hug. "Please, stay out of trouble this year. I'm not sure how much longer I can talk your father out of homeschooling you if you keep getting into life threatening situations." Lucy chuckled nervously. She never meant to risk her life at all. She picked up Grimalkin's carrier and attempted to appease her spoiled cat.

Audrey turned her attention to Molly kissing her on the cheek and pulling her into a hug as well. "Enjoy your classes this year alright?" Molly nodded and said her goodbye before jumping onto the train.

Ollie looked at Lucy's mum with a wide smile and a glimmer in his eye, "So do I get a hug to?"

"Yes you do," Ollie's grin widened as Audrey hugged him tightly and kissed his forehead. "Behave, stay out of trouble and it was a pleasure having you stay with us."

"Thank you for having me over. I had a wonderful time." He let Lucy step onto the train first and followed behind her. Lucy, Molly and Ollie waved at Audrey as the train began to move away from the platform and towards Lucy's third year of school.

The crowd began to disperse to find empty compartments and Molly bid Ollie and Lucy goodbye as she went to the prefects' carriage to get her patrol schedule. Ollie and Lucy began the long walk to look for Lute and Aubrey so they could all get a compartment together. They had not seen Aubrey all summer and were eager to catch up with him.

The thin dark haired figure saw them and broke into a jog and stopped before they crashed into each other and then flung her arms around their necks. It was Lute. "Aubrey snagged a compartment at the other end of the train, I figured I'd better find you guys or you might never find us."

"Hello to you too Lute." Lucy mumbled as Lute led them down the train. They walked and talked for about five minutes before a familiar voice caught their attention.

"Hey in here!" A voice called from the compartment they had just walked past, causing Lucy to walk quickly into the compartment to take one of the empty seats with Ollie and Lute following behind her.

The boy who had claimed the compartment for them suddenly found himself being hugged and greeted warmly.

Aubrey Addison was a small, shy twelve year old with a vicious appetite for reading that rivaled Lucy's own. His slightly too large robes seemed to swallow his tiny frame, combined with his large doe eyes gave the impression of being helpless and younger than he actually was. Aubrey's friends knew that both of those assumptions were not the case. Aubrey was gutsy, intelligent and loyal. They valued him and the companionship he offered.

The small boy offered a warm bright smile and promptly closed the book he had been reading to focus his attention to his friends. He looked very excited about something and kept playing with the clasp of his bag, appearing to be repressing the impulse to bounce up and down like an excited child.

"I have a surprise!"

Lucy thought she had a vague idea what the surprise was already but held her tongue so Aubrey could have his moment.

"I think I know what it is, but I have no idea what it looks like, so it's still a surprise." Lute crossed her legs primly as she sat down and straightened her skirt as Lucy sat down next to her and Ollie took the empty seat next to Aubrey and tried to subtly remove the bag from Aubrey's possession to he could take a peek at the surprise inside. Aubrey was far too clever for Ollie's attempts and moved the bag to his other side and clutched it tightly in a white knuckled grip and a mischievous smile.

"I did some thinking, and I think the whole point of being a secret organization, is to not to be recognized as a member of said secret organization. So, instead of the Grim itself, I went ahead and had my cousin make these." Aubrey finally reached into his bag and pulled out a small dark piece of metal and held it out in the open palm of his hand. The other three leaned forward for a better look.

It was a small piece of dark grey metal that bore a strong resemblance to a very fluffy cat in a sitting position with its paws crossed delicately in front of it. The thing that caught Lucy's attention to the piece was the detailing. Especially the big green eyes that seemed disturbingly lifelike, and eerily like her own Grimalkin's.

"Aubrey, these are great." Ollie spoke first as Aubrey handed it to him for a better look and pulled two more out of his bag for Lute and Lucy.

"It looks just like Grimalkin," Lucy said as she showed it to Grimalkin for his approval. "What do you think precious?"

Grimalkin opened and eye and made a noise of approval.

"Some secret organization we are, four kids and cat." Lute stated as she pinned the cat badge to her cloak. "I was always under the impression that secret organizations fought some type of evil. So what kind of evil are we fighting? What is our primary objective?"

There was a pregnant pause inside the compartment at Lute's observation. It was broken by Lucy who had been considering this very question most of the summer. It was a simple answer; at least it seemed such in her mind.

"Easy, we protect Albus."

The compartment remained silent, before Ollie broke the silence with a resounding, "What?"

"There are people after Albus; they think he has a great destiny remember? I don't think Sullivan can protect Albus and James on his own. We'll just keep an eye out for anything suspicious and dangerous to him and anyone else. I'm not asking you to stalk my cousins that would be creepy, just keep an eye open for anything weird."

"So we _are_ stalking your cousins." Lute smiled widely, as Lucy shifted uncomfortably suddenly realizing that that was exactly how it sounded out loud.

"Well," Lucy shrugged as her face and ears turned a bright pink color as she looked at the ceiling. "It's not actually stalking _per say_, we all share most, if not all, of our classes with them."

"Lu, I was joking."

Lucy's face began to turn back to its natural pale shade that bore an uncanny resemblance to paper. "Right, I knew that."

As her friends exchanged knowing grins there was a knock on the compartment door, before it slid open to reveal a second year. "Is there a Lucy Weasley in this compartment?"

"Right here," Lucy held her hand out to the messenger who immediately deposited a parchment scroll in her hands.

"Professor Slughorn wanted me to give this to you." The boy said nervously before scampering out of the compartment and closing the door behind him.

There was a great commotion contained within a tiny space as Lucy's friends crowded around her to read the parchment.

"Someone's going to Slug Club," Ollie sang as he ruffled Lucy's hair affectionately.

* * *

Lucy double checked the scroll to be sure she was in the right compartment before sliding the door open slowly and peering through the crack. Professor Slughorn looked up from where he was attempting to engage a blond boy in conversation. The boy looked like he had no idea why he was here and was trying quite hard to be sociable and suppress the obvious urge to run far away from Professor Slughorn.

Slughorn finally turned to find Lucy peering shyly through the crack in the compartment door and broke into a wide smile and motioned her inside. "Ah, Lucy please have a seat."

The thought of leaving excusing herself and going back to her own compartment were very strong, but she fought through the urge and stepped inside. Her Uncle Harry had called Slughorn a collector; she had nothing to fear from collectors.

"Good afternoon Professor," Lucy said as she took a quick look around the mostly empty compartment. There were two boys who had already arrived.

The tall blond boy sitting by the window was a boy in Lucy's year named Ian Fairbairn. He looked at Lucy and smiled in an awkward attempt at politeness before turning his attention to the fast moving world on the other side of the glass. He seemed to want out of the compartment one way or another. Lucy took the empty seat next to him, if Ian found a way out that did not end in insulting Slughorn she would gladly follow suit.

Ian looked at Lucy out of the corner of his eye while Lucy looked at the other people in the compartment.

Another boy looked about seventeen and seemed very comfortable in this setting, like he expected to be invited in since he got on the train. He was a large broad shouldered fellow with an aesthetically pleasing face with a cocky, crooked smile and carefully parted brown hair. Lucy stared at him in thought. He looked familiar somehow, but Lucy knew that she had never seen him before, unless she had seen him in passing at school.

"What are you staring at, Weasley?"

"I'm trying to remember where I've seen you before." Lucy answered flatly.

The boy's cocky smile widened as he held is hand out across the aisle. "Name's Gabriel Haight, it may be my father you are thinking about."

"Alexander Haight of the Goblin Liason Office?"

Ian's eyes flew open, "He crushed a rising Goblin rebellion seven years ago. It's considered one of the most effective handlings of a goblin uprising in history." Lucy and Gabriel just stared at Ian. "I like to read." Ian smiled awkwardly.

Gabriel smiled, his dark hair falling in front of his eyes before he brushed it away. "Reading is good for people who wish to educate themselves." Gabriel stood and stretched before turning his attentions to Professor Slughorn. "I'm sorry I can't stay Professor, but I have Headboy duties you know."

"It's alright Gabriel; stop by my office when you get the chance." Professor Slughorn smiled and as the compartment closed behind Gabriel Haight the Professor turned his attentions to the remaining two students. "So, Ian how is your father's work going since he discovered that old wizarding tomb in Egypt this summer, his name is going in the history books for that discovery."

Lucy had heard about that, Gavin Fairbairn was a noted magical historian who specialized in ancient wizarding history as an archeologist and anthropologist. His most recent discovery was possibly one of the top five historical discoveries currently in wizarding history. Lucy's mum and Gramps had been over the moon when some of the information out of that tomb was released to the public; it has confirmed a couple of theories of theirs' and brutally murdered a few more. Gavin Fairbairn had discovered the tomb by taking a wrong turn on a map and falling down a large sand dune and falling into the burial chamber. Despite the fact it took him twelve hours to be found, Gavin Fairbairn said to interviewers that it was worth the concussion.

Ian straightened in his chair, "His work is going very well sir. Dad's already planning another expedition out to check for more artifacts and information about the behavior of this branch of our world."

"I'm looking forward to reading more about those adventures; it is a fascinating branch of study." Slughorn smiled broadly before turning his attentions to Lucy. "How was your summer Lucy, I imagine you did a lot of reading." This earned a chuckle from Ian who as a fellow third year student was well aware of Lucy's penchant for reading her textbooks before the start of term.

"Yes sir, my mum and grandfather runs a book shop and I help out occasionally if I want to get out of the house." Lucy's tone and voice took a stiff formal tone, the same tone she often used when talking to authority figures. "Neither one of them cares if I read when I'm watching the counter."

The conversation with Professor Slughorn then turned to her Uncle Harry and how he was doing. Lucy answered his questions honestly with a smile and interest until Slughorn let them both go back to their compartments, telling them both to stop by his office anytime. Lucy had a feeling he liked both her and Ian.

* * *

The only bit of the sorting Lucy paid attention too was the sorting of her cousin, Edmund Garland who had gone to Hufflepuff after the Sorting hat sat on his head for half of a minute. Well, at least she would have a contact in Hufflepuff who would be able to watch Albus on his home territory. Edmund was very much like his parents, he was clever, street smart, and loyal to people he liked. If Lucy ever needed an inside favor in pursuit of her mission to protect Albus, Edmund would be the first person she would ask.

The rest of the sorting was relatively uneventful and Lucy whispered with her friends as the tables went up in ferocious shouts and roars of elation as they each received their newest members. Lucy stopped whispering with her friends as her cousin Roxanne's name was called. The hat sat on her head for five seconds before proclaiming her a Gryffindor and the table went up in a rumbling roar of shouts of glee and applause.

Lucy stood and ruffled Roxanne's hair as she walked by to take an empty seat next to her brother Fred, who had possessed the foresight to save her a seat next to him and James.

After Roxanne was sorted the hat was carried back to the Headmistress' office, Headmistress McGonagall began to speak to the students.

"May I have your attention please, I would first of all like to welcome back returning students and welcome all of our first years to Hogwarts. Before the feast this evening, I would like to go over a few start of term announcements, such as the Forbidden Forest being, as implied, forbidden. Our caretaker, Mr. Filch would like me to mention that the list of items banned from Hogwarts is one his office door. To save you a trip, this list includes all items from the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes." There was a collective groan from the student body, James and Fred moved their heads close together as if sharing a devious plot, which they most likely were. "I would also like to introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, I expect all of you," She focused her gaze at the part of the Gryffindor table where Fred and James were sitting. Both of the immediately straightened and folded their hands on the table in front of them as they tried to look like perfect angels sent from above. "To be on your best behavior and leave Professor Rothschild with the best possible impression of our school."

A large redheaded man rose from his seat at the staff table with a friendly smile and a wave. James became rigid in his seat before whispering, "He's one of dad's Aurors, what's he doing here?"

"If he's teaching defense, what exactly is Sullivan going to be teaching?" Ollie asked, leaning over closer to his friends.

"Also, I expect a warm welcome back for Professor Sullivan who will be taking over Muggle Studies with Professor Newton's retirement to spend more time with his twice great grandchildren."

"Does that answer your question?" Lucy was unable to help herself.

"Wow," Ollie mumbled. Lute, Aubrey and Lucy nodded in agreement. "How old was Professor Newton?"

They shrugged and joined in the clapping for Sullivan and Rothschild.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__He's ba-ack._

_I think Ollie's in the beginning stages of his first crush. Oh hormones, fun, fun, fun. I'm sure we all remember that with _complete fondness_. *Sarcasm* _


	4. Of Muggles and Flight

**Chapter Four: Of Muggles and Flight **

_**Reaper Strikes Again**_

_Two bodies were discovered in a London flat on August 31__st__. Jane and John Dower were well known for beginning the elimination of many pro-pureblood laws over the past five years- _

Lucy nibbled her toast thoughtfully as she read through the front page news, her horn-rimmed glasses sliding down her nose. This, like the article had said, brought the murders up to seven, and all seven of these murders were apparently very gristly. So gristly in fact that the Daily Prophet had decided to skip out of the exact details of the crime and give out some rather vague information. Perhaps the aurors working the case were asking them to hold things back so they would have leverage over a suspect like in the mystery novels she liked to read. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she failed to notice she had finished her piece of toast until she took a bite out of her finger.

She took a drink of orange juice after that to try and wash down the toast and regain her composure before digging into her eggs while beginning the crosswords in the back of the Prophet. This crossword was a famous wizard and witches edition. Lucy realized that one, two, and three were her aunt and uncles pretty quickly before turning her attention to the rest of the puzzle which would be slightly more difficult. "What's the name of the warlock who poisoned himself with a potion he did not believe was poisonous?"

Lute shrugged as she leaned away from Ollie who was continuing his daily ritual of inhaling his breakfast as Lute and Aubrey looked on in horror and mild disgust. Lucy, who had been watching Ollie eat at her table at home for a week was barely fazed anymore, she was desensitized to his excessive use of pepper. "Not a clue. What's the next one?"

"What was the name of the first recorded Dark Wizard hunter?" Lucy read as she focused on the crossword thoughtfully as her brow furrowed.

Aubrey made a noise from where he was sitting across from Lucy, something like recognition, before he started tapping his fork on the side of his plate as he tried to gather his thoughts. "Um…" _Cling, tap, cling. _"It was a witch named… Artimista Albane. She wound up confronting a dark witch of immense power and after defeating her she went on to hunt for more. That seems a bit bloodthirsty in my opinion. She was also famous for all of her children being squibs; all of them were sons if I'm remembering correctly."

"Three squib sons?" Lute repeated in disbelief. "I'd understand one, but three is… very odd."

Lucy shrugged, "Sometimes weird things just happen. There may be an explanation for it but were would people start looking for it?"

"That's true," Lute said as she dug into her porridge, she made a face after taking a bite before reaching for the brown sugar and putting two large spoonfuls on the top of her porridge. "Needs sugar, lots of it. What do you think Ollie?"

Ollie managed to swallow before he answered, "Pass the sugar please, I think you're right."

Lute did as asked and Ollie put three heaping spoonfuls of sugar over his porridge before beginning to devour it like a starving boy. All Lucy could bring herself to do was stare, Ollie must have read her expression because he slowed his consumption speed by a marginal amount.

"Well anyway, three squib children is possible if Artimista and her husband carried a gene for weak magic or something

Aubrey ceased his babble as a package from his father landed in his lap. His shoulders slumped and he pulled the twine apart and opened the brown wrappings. The package was long and thin and Lucy thought that she knew what it was on sight. Aubrey apparently knew what it was too as he opened the letter with a grimace, as he read the letter his expression chanced to one of sadness and brief flash of terror.

When Aubrey set the letter down on the table and placed the package on the floor. Lute and Ollie made to snatch it up to read it. After a couple of seconds of hand smacking Ollie emerged victorious with the letter in his hand. He then gave it to Lucy to read aloud.

"Seriously Ollie," Lucy said as she opened the letter.

"I like to listen to you read, I think it's soothing."

Lucy rolled her eyes, before she began to skim to the letter, refusing to read it aloud for Aubrey's privacy. It seemed a distant letter from a father to his son.

_Aubrey,_

_I noticed you left the broom I bought you under the bed. I know we were in a hurry to leave so I went ahead and sent it to you. I hope to hear about you making the team this year._

_Love,_

_Dad_

"Well, that's to the point." Lucy mumbled as Aubrey picked up and opened the package with shaking hands as Ollie and Lute leaned over his shoulders curiously. When the handle with the name of the broom was finally revealed, Ollie made a squealing noise that Lucy associated with Victoire when she was shoe shopping.

"Wow, you got a Thunderbolt too? And you left it under your bed?" Ollie looked an odd combination of disgusted and horrified.

"My dad's under the impression that I'd be a great flyer because he was in school. He lives in a fantasy world, I can't fly."

"I'm sure your father has a good idea of your abilities." Lucy said, attempting to be comforting to Aubrey, who was starting to look more mousey and anxious than usual. Lucy had a good relationship with her dad, he knew she was capable of a lot of things, but he knew what her limits were and what things she really could not do. Like all children with good parents, she thought everybody had relationships like her own with their parents.

Ollie paused, "If you want me to, I can get you out to the pitch and teach you some basics before team tryouts. It'll be fun; we can go out there this evening. Trust me, I'll make you airworthy."

"You didn't tell you dad about flying lessons last year?" Lute asked as she looked over her schedule with a careful eye.

"It didn't seem important, besides I didn't really see father to much this summer. He's working this Reaper case."

"Yeah, I haven't seen Uncle Ron or Uncle Harry to much at family dinners this summer because of that. Do you know anything the public doesn't?" Lucy asked a morbid curiosity in her eyes.

"Well, my father came home one evening and went straight for the bottle, he started talking about a signature, and that their faces were gone. Was that in the Prophet?"

His three friends silently shook their heads and pushed their plates away in a shocked disgusted silence.

* * *

"Welcome to Muggle Studies everyone!" Professor Sullivan exclaimed from the front of the room to a class of ten students. Lucy and Ollie exchanged looks from the front of the room. "In case you don't remember me, I am Professor Sullivan, former Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor." He rubbed his hands together gleefully as he smiled at the class. He seemed peppier, that year off must have been very relaxing. "I am hoping to cover a variety of things in this class that have never been covered before in past teachings of the course. We are going to learn about how muggles live, but I also want to cover their thought processes towards magic and hopefully some literature later this year or early next year. Perhaps we'll start with Shakespeare."

Ollie leaned over and whispered in Lucy's ear, "Who's this Shakesphere bloke?"

"Noted playwright, I took Grimalkin's name from one of his plays." Lucy whispered as Sullivan turned to write something on the board.

"What did he write about?"

"Love, death and politics."

"There will be no magic in this classroom aside from that of the physical movements of the human body. So, on to today's lesson." Sullivan turned back to face the class. "Since we're such a small class, you will stand and tell myself and the class a little bit about yourself."

Sullivan pointed at each student in turn and had the student say their name, where they were from, what they liked to do, and why they decided to sign up for Muggle Studies. He started at the back and worked his way to the front. Lori Paternoster of Hufflepuff and her friend Freya Fenn from Ravenclaw were there to broaden their general knowledge. Malorie Malone was a Slytherin Half-blood who wanted to work in the Muggle Worthy Excuse Committee after graduating. She was a rare decent Slytherin.

Sullivan finally turned his attention to Lucy and Ollie, Ollie stood first. "I'm Ollie Wood, I live in London and I like to play Quidditch. A lot." Lucy and a couple of other people giggled, that was a grand understatement. "I decided to sign up for Muggle Studies because I am interested in trains and I had a friend taking the class." He gave Lucy a smile that would have melted the hearts of less socially stunted girls.

When Ollie sat down, Lucy stood up. "Name's Lucy Weasley, I live outside of Puddlefoot and I like to read mystery novels. I signed up for Muggle Studies for a purely scientific interest in the differences between our cultures." She sat back down.

'_I also signed up for this class because none of my older cousins did and I thought it would make Grandad happy. But I won't talk about that.'_

"And I am Professor Gregory Sullivan. Like Mr. Wood and Miss Fenn I live in London when I am not teaching here at Hogwarts and I enjoy my morning cup of coffee. I am a muggle-born and as such spent my youth in the muggle world; I have wanted this position for a few years now as I want to try and help free the wizarding society of ignorance of our Muggle neighbors and the way they live. Before you ask where I was last year, all you need to know is that I took a year off due to personal responsibilities."

Professor Sullivan then turned back to the blackboard and began to write, _Chapter One: The Muggle, The Myth._

"Now, who here can tell me a common misconception about muggles?"

* * *

Lucy and Ollie took their time putting their book into their bag and dragged themselves along with a hushed conversation about the class. Lucy wanted to ask Sullivan about his time off, about what he was doing. Though she had a feeling that pursuing that course of action would lead to revealing the diary. No point in showing one's hand if it's not necessary. Besides, that last entry seemed to show mistrust between Sullivan and the person who hired him to watch Uncle Harry's children when they came to school.

Besides, Sullivan did not want to have questions asked about his time off. Maybe his wishes should be respected.

"Have a good day Professor Sullivan," Lucy said as she and Ollie walked out of the classroom. Both students waved at their teacher as he closed the door behind them with a smile.

Once they were out in the corridor, Ollie voiced what Lucy knew he was thinking, "Why didn't you ask about the diary?"

"I felt no need to show my hand, I'm not really sure how much a life debt will keep a threatened person loyal. I have no qualms with Sullivan, but I think he's on our side for now. But the minute he shows otherwise, we'll take him down. Sullivan openly admitted that he's not a particularly powerful wizard, if the four of us are clever about it, we could take him if needed. I don't want it to come to that though…"

Ollie put a hand on her shoulder, "I doubt it will. Sullivan's a good person who seemed to be looking out for everyone's wellbeing first year. I really doubt that's changed."

"But he was running around with the Reformation, does that not scream questionable character to you?" The grip Ollie had on Lucy's shoulder tightened as she felt herself being led into a nearby empty classroom. The room was musky and looked like it had been empty for a long period of time. She sat down on one of the desks while Ollie leaned against the one across the aisle from the one she was using.

Ollie did not speak for a few seconds; he seemed to be planning what he was going to say very carefully. "I was talking to my grandparents about some of the stuff that was being talked about on the wireless over the summer. A few of the muggleborn murders and disappearances. They said it reminded them of when You-Know-Who was in power, only this time it's only muggleborns going missing. It was a bad time Lu, when it ended, a lot of the victims were really traumatized, Sullivan is a victim and sometimes people respond to that kind of trauma with anger and aggression until they can come back to themselves and Sullivan seems to have moved beyond what happened to him. Remember the diary; he was one of the lucky ones who didn't get sent to Azkaban."

"But he was roped into a babysitting gig, and we have no idea who he is working for. I'm not even sure he knows who he's working for. What if he's working for a third party who wants Albus for their own plans?"

"It's a possibility, anything is really with the information we have, but there are a few other options that seem to put that one near the bottom of the scale." Ollie smiled, "Too many factors and to little information. Relax." His hand reached across the aisle and barely made it halfway before he pulled it back and stuffed it in his pocket. "Everything will happen in its own time, and we'll deal with it when it does. Come on, we should probably get going."

"Yeah, no use worrying about it until a way can found to best take control of the situation."

* * *

That evening Lucy found her and her friends assembled at the Quidditch pitch for Aubrey's first flying lesson in operation, _Please Pops_. "I have a bad feeling about this," Aubrey mumbled as Ollie took an old broom out of the shed.

"I don't want to put you on anything with too much power before I figure out exactly what we need to work on." Ollie did not appear to be listening to Aubrey's concerns, "Didn't you have flying lessons last year?"

"Well, um…"

Lute snorted from her seat in the grass, "He got ten feet in the air and lost his breakfast. It was pretty gross."

Lucy just turned a page in her defensive arts textbook while her charms text was opened to a section on cushioning charms. Being prepared was very important.

"Hey Lucy, put the book down and get over here, you can't fly either." Ollie walked over to Lucy and held out a hand to help her to her feet.

Lucy ignored him, "I'll stay on the ground thank you very much."

"Ah, c'mon Luce."

"No."

Ollie shrugged and turned his attention to a trembling Aubrey. "Okay Aubrey, we're going to talk about take offs and landings, because you can't have one without the other."

Lute scooted closer to Lucy while they watched Ollie instruct Aubrey with an old Shooting Star and a voice of booming confidence. Aubrey seemed smaller and mousier than usual and a touch paler than parchment.

"If Aubrey pukes again I'm leaving," Lute whispered as Ollie managed to get Aubrey onto the broom and was trying to get him to push off the ground.

"I'll go with you."

They were silent for a moment, a silence broken only by their occasional yells and shouts of encouragement, when Ollie began drifting after Aubrey who was flying slowly towards the other end of the pitch and appeared to be hyperventilating as his toes skimmed the ground.

"So, I hear the first Hogsmeade trip is in October. Are you and Ollie going to go together?"

"That's a dumb question, seeing as you and Aubrey are not able to go yet."

"No, I mean _together, _together." Lute brought her hands together as she elaborated on what Lucy was sure was a very interesting thought she was having that was not quite in Lucy's realm of understanding.

"Don't see if I have a choice in who I go with, Ollie's my only year mate who I can call my friend."

Lute stared at Lucy blankly before covering her face with her hands and shaking her head slowly. "Oh, never mind."

"I'll bring you both back some candy, and you and Aubrey will be in our thoughts."

The conversation trailed off as Aubrey shot off into the air with a loud scream of terror with Ollie following behind him ready to catch him if he fell.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **_Yes, Lute is a shipper on deck

The name Grimalkin is derived from Shakespeare's Macbeth. Grimalkin was one of the witches' familiars from the opening act. It seemed appropriate. I'm just curious, did anyone get that reference before now?


	5. Internal Politics

_**Chapter Five: Internal Politics**_

Lucy leaned against the wall casually as she eavesdropped with interest on the older students whispering on the other side of the library stacks. They were talking about politics and the Ministerial candidate Bianca Harrington and her possible win at the end of the year. Lucy had seen a couple of black and white pictures of Bianca in the Prophet and a full color photo in a political magazine so she had a general idea what she looked like. Bianca was a round-faced blonde woman with broad shoulders and almond colored eyes. Lucy thought she had a lovely pleasant looking face, one would hardly believe that she had spent time in Azkaban for being a Muggle-born. She did not have that haunted look that was, even twenty years later, was associated with the prison. Though then again, pictures, even magical ones, would have a hard time capturing deep despair.

"I actually got to talk to her once," A seventh year girl said as she and her friends hovered over the open Prophet. "She's really smart, and she already has a plan in place for when he assumes the Minister's position. She said she has a good idea about who she wants to start going through the old law books for eradication and who she wants sitting as department heads and to fill those emptying Wizangamot's seats."

One of the boys she was sitting with chuckled, "You would love to join her Ministry, wouldn't you Quinn."

"I would actually, fully eradicating those laws that favor purebloods and half-bloods would be fantastic, it would be a great way to start my career. I have an internship this summer and I'm hoping to work with someone who has the same opinion about this as I do."

"I'm sure you'll find someone if you are going into the law department," a second male voice said and Lucy paused at the familiarity.

"I have no doubt you'll be fantastic at it." Definitely Gabriel Haight. "Now if you want to end up somewhere specific I could talk to my father about pulling some strings to get you exactly where you want to be."

"Oh would you? I would be useful to know the big players on the inside!" This Quinn girl sounded excited.

"It would not be a problem."

Lucy leaned forward. Bianca Harrington. What grand plans did she have? If they were associated with the Reformation, then it could not be good at all.

* * *

Rothschild was a large, burly fellow who seemed to fill a room just by being in it. He stood next to the door and greeted the students as they walked in. He filled Lucy with a different kind of fear then Gibbons did, this was a fear of disappointing the teacher. Gibbons made her want to hide under her bed in the dormitory and tremble in terror.

He smiled at Lucy and Ollie before closing the door behind them and walking up to his desk in the front of the classroom. They scampered to their seats in the front of the room.

"Hello everybody," he said leaning against the desk in a casual manner with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

There was a murmured response of hello, and good morning from the rest of the class.

"Well, that wasn't very enthusiastic, lets try that again. Good morning class."

"Good morning." The class responded in unison. Lucy propped her elbow on the top of her book and rested her chin on her hand. Ollie moved a little closer to Lucy while he stared wide-eyed at the new instructor.

"Now, that didn't hurt did it," the teacher laughed. There were a few nervous chuckles from a few of the braver children in the back of the room. The ones closest to the door was what it sounded like. "Yes James?"

Lucy turned to the back where her cousins were sitting, James' bright red hair stood out among the black, brown and blond of his friends. He was looking at Rothschild with a skeptical stare. "Why are you teaching?"

Rothschild's expression tightened for a moment before falling back into a relaxed smile. "I needed a change of pace. My job as an Auror is very stressful and I may have upset a few people. Also the school needed a teacher, and I decided to give this a try with my department head's blessing."

Lucy gave James another look; he still seemed disbelieving of the instructors reasoning for being here. Rothschild seemed to notice this but maintained his pleasant demeanor as he turned back to the board.

"Now, I was talking to Professor Sullivan who gave me his outline from when he was teaching you during your first year and what milestones you were able to cover during the course of the year, which was all of them I applaud him for that. Your teacher last year was by the book, and he was also arrested at the end of the year, so he had an ulterior motive for taking this job to begin with. You lot are a little bit behind where you need to be, but I have lesson plans of my own and I can work in what you missed within the next month while teaching you what you need to know for this year. "

Lucy grimaced; this would be a brutal class for the next month at least. Oh, well. Rothschild would most likely be a teacher who would know his stuff.

James getting annoyed about it was just a bonus.

"Now, I want this class to be fun and informative, so we're going to learn how to duel this semester and hopefully I can get a dueling club set up here by Christmas, so that those who are interested can continue to practice when we move on to everything else we are supposed to learn this year. Open your books to the first chapter and we will get started."

Lucy went to raise her hand to see if she could just work on the assignment, but Ollie nudged her ribs with his elbow and shook his head. Lucy pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and gave him a look before settling in to reread the chapter about advanced wand movements and felt her mind begin to wander to thoughts of glory and victory in a life or death duel with Lucy emerging victorious from the rubble and plumes of smoke rising behind her.

* * *

"Oh, Miss Weasley, Mr. Wood, could I have a word with you? It won't take long, and you'll have plenty of time to get to class." Lucy and Ollie looked at Professor Rothschild before sharing a nervous glance with each other as the rest of the class filed their way out the door. Lucy loaded her books into her rucksack, ready to leave as soon as they were dismissed for her first Care of Magical Creatures lesson. When the rest of the class finally cleared out and the door swung shut behind them, Rothschild began to speak. "I heard that you and a couple of your friends were the ones who busted Merriweather a few months ago."

He smiled, "You lot did a number on him. The one who hit him with that Sound Hex broke both eardrums, one beyond our ability to repair."

"Oh that was our friend Lute," Lucy smiled, relaxing in the confident feeling that they were not in trouble.

"Yeah, we try not to make her angry," Ollie added.

"Your fourth member was Aubrey Addison correct?"

Lucy and Ollie responded in perfect unison with "Yes sir."

"My roster says that they are second year Gryffindors, this whole story is pretty impressive." Rothschild stood from where he was sitting behind his desk. "I hope none of you were hoping to repeat such dangerous pastimes this year. I assure you that as long as I'm here that you will have no need to be poking about playing auror with actual criminals."

"We never meant to-" Lucy started, suddenly feeling like the lecture she felt she had successfully avoided was imminent. She closed her mouth when Rothschild held up his hand.

"I don't think you did, but if you hear about anything strange, I hope you'll come to me. I'm a trained professional, I'm sure I can help." Professor Rothschild smiled and Lucy felt less concerned about this whole affair. "Dismissed."

Ollie closed the door behind them as they stepped out into the corridor. They exchanged a confused look as the door clicked behind them and an uncertain shrug before beginning their walk towards down the stairs to go to their Care for Magical Creatures lesson. He was just telling them to stay out of trouble.

"Question," Ollie stated as they reached the Great Hall.

"Possible answer," Lucy retorted as they walked quickly through the hall.

"Why do you think James was smarting off to the Professor?"

Lucy wrinkled her nose in thought, "Well, it seems like Rothschild isn't just here to teach, I think he's here to watch Albus and James. I think James knew as soon as he knew who he was and where he used to work."

"He must feel like his dad's butting into his personal life. I wish I had that problem."

"Would you like to borrow my father? He's a bit of a pest."

Ollie laughed, the sound echoed off the walls of the Great Hall as Lucy pulled open the door that led to the grounds. "He's protective, that's all it is." Ollie's laugh had subsided to a chuckle. "My parents are away at training camps often enough that I don't see them as much as I like to. Those days with your family were really nice. I love spending time with my grandparents but really, the relationship just isn't the same."

Lucy thought back to what Aubrey had said about not seeing his dad much over the summer and realized that maybe Ollie had something in common with Aubrey.

"My dad did teach me to fly though, and he's able to get me into his quidditch matches. He gets some amazing seats! I'll have to see if you can come this summer. I know you support Ireland and don't go to the school matches too much but it'll be fun. Are you coming to tryouts after class?"

"I already know that you are a shoe in for the position you want to try-out for, and I just go to the matches to watch you play to be honest." Lucy said causing Ollie to stop and look at her blankly. "Because you're my friend and I want to support you in your efforts to help bring the team to victory."

"Oh, okay, no team spirit?"

"Very little."

They could see the gathering of students around Hagrid's hut near the Forbidden Forest and Lucy suddenly remembered the night her first year when they had met No-Face. Lucy had stayed as far from the forest as she could manage to since that night. There was James and Fred whispering to Liam and Dylan as they pulled things out of their bag. Lucy nudged Ollie with her elbow to draw his attention to the group. He nodded and smiled softly. She knew his interest had been peaked too.

They settled in for a very dull lesson about flubberworms.

* * *

Ollie had gone to his Quidditch try-outs immediately after the lesson leaving Lucy to her own devices as she was very sure of the results of this year's tryouts and saw no point in attending. Dominique would not do Ollie the disservice that had occurred last year. So Lucy had decided to wander around the lake and bask in her solitude. It was easier to think this way sometimes, with only the dull howl of the wind in her ear.

She sat down on a flat rock by the lake overlooking the memorial and brought her knees up to her chest. A large black shadow nearby caught her attention. Lucy turned quickly to find a thestral staring at her with even eyes. She thought of Singleir in that moment. Inhaling a deep breath she moved her hand slightly to motion it towards her, doubting that this would be an effective tactic on a semi-wild animal.

Then again, it did seem to be effective, Lucy smiled as the Thestral stepped forward and, ignoring her outstretched hand, bumped her shoulder with its nose. She admired its strong facial features and leathery wings that could quickly rise up into the sky. The noticeable white scar on its chest. She wondered briefly if it would care to give her a ride. What would it be like to ride on this powerful creatures back even for a few moments?

She reached up attentively to scratch its nose and pat its neck. This one seemed familiar to Lucy; it was definitely the same one that had been consistently pulling the carriage she took up to the school every year. The rock she was sitting on was a bit uneven for Lucy to feel comfortable standing on, but perhaps if she stepped onto that stump over there…

Lucy walked back towards the stump making clicking noises with her tongue and motioning with her hands for the thestral to follow her. "C'mon."

It followed curiously, flexing its wings and tossing its head proudly. When Lucy stopped and stepped on the stump it continued to walk forward and bumped her knee with its head. Lucy paused. Getting on the back of a half-wild animal she knew almost nothing about was a stupid idea. She would need more information before she decided to do something crazy.

"I have a feeling I'll be seeing you again very soon, so maybe I should call you something." Lucy sat down on the stump while the thestral looked at her quizzically. "I think you're a male, so we'll have to come up with something masculine sounding. How about Howard?"

The thestral shook its head.

"Toothy?"

Another head shake.

"Zeus?"

The head shake this time seemed a little less energetic and violent looking.

"Hm, how does Titus sound?"

The thestral stomped the ground and took a step towards Lucy.

"Titus it is then."

She reached up to pat him on the nose before rising from her seat on the stump and stretching her hands to the grey sky above, wincing as her shoulders cracked. She would go back to the castle and then head down to the Great Hall for lunch. She was hoping for soup today, the weather was dreary enough for it.

* * *

"I really like school," Aubrey stated as he pulled a book off the shelf in the back of the library while Grimalkin tried to climb up his arm. Aubrey was not going to let the spoiled cat just crawl all over him, so he scratched Grimalkin's ears as he continued to look for a book to read. "It's nice to come back and be good at something."

"That involves having both feet planted firmly on the ground?" Lute asked as she restrung her lyre.

"Yes, that is a very important detail," Aubrey laughed as he pulled the thick tome off the shelf and sat down at the table. "Okay, ready for me to quiz you?"

"Never, but lets get started." Lute set her lyre aside and folded her hands on the table. "First question."

"Name the three…" Aubrey trailed off and buried his nose in the book, becoming deeply absorbed in what he and Lute were supposed to be studying.

"Great, I lost another one." Lute looked over at Lucy and Ollie were reviewing notes at the other end of the table. Ollie seemed distracted as he kept looking at a group of girls studying at a nearby table. Lute followed his nervous gaze to one girl in particular and felt her hand hit her forehead in particular disbelief. Her voice was only loud enough for her own ears to hear. "Oh really, Ollie." The git. He was setting himself up for some serious heartbreak; Dominique would most likely never look at him twice unless it was quidditch related. Genetics, a blessing and curse.

Actually, Lute looked past Ollie at another group of happy studiers at another table. Most of them were boys who were balancing quills on their noses in boredom as they answered questions. Obviously, Dominique's unique talents were fizzling but Ollie was still staring like a starving man at a fine feast. That was telling.

Lute smiled, Ollie was very sweet. He seemed to like Dominique for more than her unnatural good looks.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__This chapter is officially dedicated to the wonderful Ixiel! Whose review reminded me how close I was to topping off this chapter._

_ The next chapter itself will be much longer, I promise. I have some college stuff to take of and writing got set aside. I'll put it up sometime in November. So I can work o my college projects for the end of the semester. _


	6. The Goat Man

**Chapter Six: The Goat Man**

The first Hogsmeade weekend was cold, cloudy, and had a light misty drizzle that seemed to be trying to progress to a steady rainfall. Lucy sniffled and proceeded to sneeze as she and Ollie admired the window displays in the shops. They had already bought parchment for Aubrey and a couple of quills for Lute and Lucy. Ollie had bought sweets for them all to share in the common room that evening.

"I think this is it unless you wanted to go back to the quidditch store?" Lucy asked as she kicked a rock down the street and sent a glare at the passing figure of James who was laughing with the rest of the Gryffindor third years.

"I'm looking into things to give dad for his birthday." Ollie said quickly, seeming to try and defend his need to examine and comment on every item in the store's use and practicality on and off the quidditch field. "He needs a new broom compass."

"What happened to the old one?"

"Nothing, it's just beat up and the spellwork isn't up to date. It goes crazy at high speeds. Thinks east is north, that kind of thing."

"I can see how that would get someone lost."

"I don't need a compass; I always know where I'm going. If I get lost I have ways to find my way around."

A figure nearby caught Lucy's attention she gave Ollie a nudge with her elbow before running over. "Magdalene!"

Magdalene Moffett looked worn and tired, a little more so then when Lucy had last seen her at the end of the previous school year. She had dark bags under her eyes and pale sickly pallor to her skin. She obviously was not ill, her eyes still looked bright and she seemed to be alert to what was going on. Magdalene shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she examined the contents of her bag.

The young woman looked up and smiled as Lucy rushed towards her. Magdalene held out her arms and caught Lucy in a hug. She spun her around once before setting her back on the ground and reaching out to ruffle Ollie's hair affectionately. "Hello you two, how have you been?"

"Good, how about yourself?" Lucy asked as the crowd around them began to come back into the edge of her focus. Ollie smiled at Magdalene while stepping out of her reach and closer to Lucy. Lucy noted his weariness of Magdalene from last year had not wavered and she shrugged it off with a glare in Ollie's direction. His opinions on Magdalene did not matter in her eyes; she knew he would not voice them aloud to her again. "I'm not really sure I understand what you are doing just through your letters."

"It's a little difficult to explain properly without giving too much away," Magdalene started with a smirk and raising an eyebrow at Lucy. She tilted her head and seemed to be inwardly begging Lucy to ask more questions.

Lucy was happy to oblige. "C'mon Magdalene, you can tell us, I'm sure neither of will let anything slip."

"You're so insistent," Magdalene chortled, her tone sarcastic. "I'll be glad to explain it to you. Follow me." She walked into the crowd with a confident stride with Lucy hot on her heels. Ollie following wearily behind her.

Magdalene leapt over a pile of brown slush and breezed past the shoppers that were comparing the shoes that they had just purchased. Lucy found herself humming an inappropriate Yule song Gramps had taught the shrunken heads as they wandered to an old building that looked like a book shop. Lucy felt her eyes widen, she might not have to send as many requests to Gramps for books if this was here, she could just pop in a get a few things on other Hogsmeade trips. Magdalene walked up to the shop and opened the door with the dull twinkle of a bell. She held the door open and let them inside. She nodded politely at the manager at the counter who smiled and continued talking with the customer. Magdalene led Lucy and Ollie to the back of the shop and opened the door to a small study with books neatly packed on small shelves and scrolls piled on top. There was a book on the desk opened to an ink drawing of a woman in a fur cloak. Magdalene placed a bookmark on the page and set the book aside as she sat on the desk, transfiguring a couple of comfortable chairs for her guests with a flick of her wand. Lucy and Ollie made themselves comfortable and gave Magdalene their full attention.

"Since I left school I've started looking at old texts and scrolls about old half-forgotten legends. I think I have a lead on an object that I think may be in Hogmeade somewhere." Magdalene crossed her legs primly. "The object I am looking for is referenced a few different texts and a really old story. I suspect it's a powerful artifact, but if I'm wrong it's still a valuable treasure and I can sell it to a museum."

"What exactly is this artifact you're looking for?" Ollie asked as Lucy examined some of the books next to the chair she was sitting in. The books were about history and old lore. The kind of things Lucy would find in Gramps office.

She turned her attention back to Magdalene who smiled and pulled a book out of the stack on the corner of her desk and opened to a page near the end and gave them the book to examine. Lucy examined a drawing of a silver goblet. "That, my friends, is the Grail. It is mystical, powerful, and possibly somewhere here in Hogsmeade."

"What makes you so sure it's here in the village?" Lucy asked as she traced the outline of the grail on the page.

"It's a rumor, but I think it has a lot of merit. I've found little things that make me think I'm right."

"Sounds like something my mum does."

"Your mum's a researcher right? I guess you could call it a similar job only I think this is more like treasure hunting. Though I hear researchers do a bit of that too, they're jacks of all trades to be perfectly accurate."

"I don't really know too much about what mum actually does aside from writing papers and taking care of the shop."

"You should ask about it."

Lucy shrugged. "Mum and Gramps will tell me I know what I need to about their work already. Besides, I read their papers when I get half a chance, truly fascinating stuff. All about old magic and how it's become what we know of it today."

"Why do this for a living Magdalene?" Ollie asked his brow furrowed as he leaned forward in his chair.

"I don't accept limitations, I want to push them as far as they can possibly go and break them into pieces."

Lucy felt her shoulders tense as she examined Magdalene who was staring at the ceiling with a calm thousand-yard gaze. "Mum says the limitations she imposes on herself when she researches something helps her come back home in one piece."

"I don't think your mum and I are looking into the same things. I'm looking into old objects; your mum's looking into old spells." She smiled, "Don't worry Lu."

"What if the object you're looking at is cursed?" Where did Magdalene get the idea that what she was doing was without risk? "You haven't had any sort of training or apprenticeship in this business. If you're serious about this, you should find a good mentor to teach you the skill set that will help keep you safe. Gramps first rule is that magic is dangerous."

"We all have power, how truly dangerous is magic? Every curse has a counter curse, every spell a reversal." She smiled with the enamoring confidence of youth with a wolfish predatory edge. "I'm studying very carefully, if it's something really dangerous like a horcrux, I'm in the process of obtaining something that can finish it off."

Lucy felt her brain begin to whir into action, her curiosity roused like a waking dragon. Quick and aggressive. "What's a horcrux?"

"You mean your illustrious grandfather never mentioned it to you?" Lucy shook her head. Magdalene grinned, "I'll be glad to fill in that gap in your knowing." She made herself comfortable and seemed to be preparing herself for a long explanation but a shout from the front caught her attention. The shout was followed by the door into Magdalene's study, "What is it Gary?"

"There's a lady out front asking for you."

"Oh," She paused and looked at Lucy and Ollie pensively. "I'm afraid we'll have to end this visit for the moment; I forgot I had a previous engagement. I'll escort you both to the door; perhaps we can continue this discussion at a later date. If you want a place to hang around in, I recommend the Three Broomsticks; it has the best butterbeer in the village."

Magdalene smiled at them and walked them through the shop and to the front door bypassing a woman with silver hair who examined Lucy and Ollie with a look that made Ollie move closer to Lucy. Once they got to the door they bid Magdalene a final farewell and walked towards the Three Broomsticks to heed her advice on local butterbeer.

They walked to the Three Broomsticks in a thoughtful silence. Lucy's mind whirring with everything that could possibly go wrong with Magdalene's work, and the question of what a horcrux was.

"What do you think she's looking for?" Ollie asked as they arrived outside the Three Broomsticks. Lucy put her hand on the doorknob and opened the door, the sounds of laughter and the smell of hot food hitting her full in the face as her eyes darted around the pub. She winced. It was packed wall to wall with people, most of them were people Lucy did not like or know.

"I don't know." Lucy replied flatly as she took a final sweep around the pub. "It's really full in there; we can come back later maybe when some of them leave." Lucy closed the door to the warm, brightly lit pub before turning back to Ollie. "I'm sure this place has more than one place for a warm drink, want to go look around some more?"

"We've been all over the village, and you want to walk around some more?" Lucy nodded. Ollie smiled, "I guess we better get going then." Lucy started walking towards the part of the village that they had not been yet.

It was a short walk to the other side of the village. Lucy and Ollie stopped and looked around at the rapidly changing village scenery, less a tourist attraction and more like where the down on their luck sorts tended to congregate. There was one man in heavy bandages leaning against the wall and looking at them through the gap in his bandages. Lucy moved a little closer to Ollie and they both walked a little faster until they saw something that looked pretty pub like.

"Want to see what that is?" Ollie asked as he took a bold step forward towards the noise of the pub.

"I think I know what it is, but do you think anyone will throw us out?"

"Maybe, maybe not, at least we'll get out of this weather."

Lucy adjusted her tree shaped cloak clasp that was situated at her throat and took a step forward and put her hand on the door and pushed it open.

The Hogs Head was dirty, grimy, and most importantly it was warm. She kept her cloak on through, there did not seem to be any place to hang it where it would not get dirty. Besides, Lucy felt safer having it on.

They walked up to the bar and sat on the stools as the pub keep scrubbed a glass with slow methodical movements that only seemed to make the glass dirtier. Lucy watched the dirtying glass with a discerning eye. She began to think of cleaning charms that she had heard her mother use around the house if she was cleaning up on the way out the door to work. Lucy had never done one before, but every little bit helped remove the grim from a glass. She decided not to order a drink. She wondered if he had pie?

Ollie was looking at a small menu slowly and carefully as he read it slowly, mumbling something about a lack of pictures. Lucy leaned over closer to him and eyed the menu of fish and chips, baked potatoes, a variety of soups, and a whiskey list.

Lucy felt the drool at the corner of her mouth at the thought of a hot meal. She did like potatoes. She double checked the price and dug out her money pouch. "I think I'll get a potato, because I'm a simple creature."

"That sounds good!" Ollie tossed twelve sickles on the counter, "You paid for the stuff we're bringing back for Lute and Aubrey, and it's only fair that I pay for lunch."

"I can agree with that." Lucy made herself comfortable and double-checked her rucksack to make sure that it was closed and nothing had fallen out. "We should look into sneaking them here so they can do their own shopping. I know they'll be in next year but it'd be more fun if they were hanging out with us."

"I'm sure Aubrey will sniff out a way out of the castle given incentive."

Lucy held up the pack of parchment and new quill that she had grabbed for Aubrey at Scribblers. "The smell of new parchment shall be his guide. I'm really not sure how he finds those rooms."

"Aubrey's a bit on the nosy side, he hides it pretty well. If I need something found or somebody watched, I'd probably ask Aubrey. Most people forget he's there, I forget he's there occasionally when he's hanging out with us. Quiet as a mouse."

The pub keep made his way over to them. Lucy blinked and tilted her head as she looked at the goat that was trailing his footsteps. He swept the money into his hand and looked at them. "What'll it be?"

"Two baked potatoes please," Ollie asked with a smile.

"Fine, I'll be back in a few minutes." Lucy examined the man closely. He was very old; Lucy thought he must have been over a hundred, which was not too unusual. He had a scruffy long beard and brilliant blue eyes. Lucy thought she had seen him before.

"Well, anyway, I made the House team. Finally got first string to, your cousin's a complete drill sergeant but she's got great ideas with what she wants to do this season." Ollie stared off into space at the mention of Dominique. Lucy shrugged and waited for him to continue. He looked like he had more to say, but he didn't say another word about it. Lucy shrugged and reached for an abandoned Daily Prophet sitting next to them.

The article Lucy skimmed was about a muggleborn woman who had been murdered in her home in Godric's Hollow. Her husband was a minor Ministry bureaucrat named Sam Quigley who worked in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. He had been out of town when she had been killed. Sara Quigley had been an outspoken advocate for taking the old pro-pureblood laws off the books. Her body had been found in the home two days after she was killed. The Reformation was in an uproar.

Lucy shivered. If this person could get into one's home he or she was making it clear that if they wanted someone they could get them at a convenient time when they were alone and helpless.

Lucy looked up when she heard the bleating of a goat that had wandered in from the back. "Ollie, that's a goat."

"Yes, Lucy, that is a goat. You can tell by the horns and its coarse coat."

Lucy tried to glare at Ollie, but had no success as she began to laugh instead.

"Luce," Ollie took a serious tone that Lucy was not accustomed to hearing from her friend. "Magdalene worries me."

"I know, she doesn't have the training to really understand the things she's working with or the procedures needed to protect herself properly."

"Not exactly what I was referring too, but it was close." Lucy gave him a stony look. "I think she's getting into something big, and I'm afraid it's something unnatural from the way she was talking. I don't know what this horcrux thing show was talking about it, well, it made me nervous." Lucy opened her mouth to retort and defend Magdalene, but Ollie held up his hand and continued talking. "I don't think I trust her, she seems too involved in whatever it is she's doing to make rational decisions. I know it isn't much to go on, it's just a feeling I have. It may be nothing. I just want you to know what I think on the matter."

Lucy closed her mouth and folded her hands primly on the countertop. "Thank you Ollie, it's good to hear your thoughts on our mutual friend." Her voice was stiff and it sounded like a forced politeness. "This situation worries me too; I'll keep sending her letters and visiting her when I get the chance, just to see if she's okay." She paused, she tone relaxing. "Still I wonder what exactly this Grail is that Magdalene is looking for?"

Before they could get the chance to truly dwell on that little curiosity an old man emerged from the back with their orders and placed them in front of them. He looked at them curiously, his eyes lingering on Lucy for a moment longer then what Lucy would associate for a passing glance.

Stroking his beard in thought, his eyebrows creased as he examined Lucy thoughtfully. "You're Audrey's daughter, Lucy aren't ya?"

Lucy sat up a little straighter, and held out her hand for him to shake, "Yes sir, I'm Lucy."

The man grasped Lucy's hand, "Aberforth, I'm acquainted with your family."

Aberforth had a firm grip for such a fragile looking man. "Nice to meet you sir. Gramps talks about you sometimes. He says you're the person to ask about any of the major goings on around here."

He smiled, "Septimus raves about you and your sister. He talks about the Garland's just as much. You're the only one I've met so far."

"Most of my cousins are still to little to come to school, Edmund's a first year so he won't be down this way for a couple more years." She paused. "I don't think Molly would ever come to this part of the village, my sister's one of those people who does not wander off of the beaten path."

"It may be the safe way to live one's life, but it isn't the most interesting way to live."

Lucy recognized that saying. "I know you're quoting Gramps."

"Well, he was quoting me."

Ollie started to laugh, "Really?"

"Old people are naturally wise Ollie." Lucy said with a grin.

"And they all know each other too, he comes up here to talk once or twice a month." Aberforth continued polishing his drinking glass.

Lucy looked up at the ceiling as she rhythmically jabbed her potato with her fork. "He must come up here when Enforcer Scully's doing her searches through the Alley. Uncle Cappie must be giving him advance warnings."

"He'll be in sometime in the next couple of weeks then. I'll tell him you stopped by."

A man wrapped in a heavy cloak called Aberforth to a table in the far corner of the pub, the old man gave the children a nod before walking off to the cloaked man, the goat at his heels.

Oo0Oo0

"So what's with the goats?" Ollie asked as they walked away from the pub some time later, bellies full and eyes brighter than they were before walking in.

"I have no idea; maybe we would be happier not knowing." Lucy kicked a rock on the path and watched it bounce down the empty cobblestone streets.

"He was pretty odd for an old man," Ollie said as they continued to walk down the rapidly darkening streets. "It was the goat thing."

"Putting aside the strange pet choice. I liked him, we should stop by next time they let us out for holiday shopping."

Ollie looked at Lucy in surprise, "It's a little creepy down there."

"You heard what he said, Gramps likes to come down and visit him and he's never had a problem." She gave him a teasing smile. "Oh, were you scared? Oh don't worry Ollie, I'll protect you."

"Ha ha, very funny."

"I thought so."

They were about to walk back out onto the main street when they heard a muffled noise coming from one of the side alleys nearby. Lucy turned and took out her wand and walked softly towards the noise. Ollie followed her lead.

Lucy turned into the alley, fully expecting a fight but only found a slumped figure leaning against the wall. She double-checked to make sure that there was nobody else nearby before running over to help. Lucy knelt down in front of the boy and put a hand on his shoulder and giving him a gentle shake.

"Are you okay?" The boy moaned in response, Lucy moved his head back slowly and sucked in a breath, "Ian."

Ollie knelt down next to Lucy and moved his hand in front of Ian's face. "Snap to Ian, and tell us what happened to you."

"I don't… Not sure." He groaned again and Lucy felt the urge to smack him to keep him conscious. She settled for giving him another shake. "Got jumped… Dunno who exactly… " He closed his eyes and Lucy propped him back against the wall carefully.

"I'll stay with him; you go get some help to get him back to the castle." Lucy said calmly, trying to hide the notable tremble in her voice. "I'll keep him talking so he'll stay awake until you get back."

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Ollie nodded before taking off at a run down the street.

"Ian, I need you to wake up and keep talking in cause I think you've hurt your head," Lucy said her voice soft and coaxing. "Tell me about yourself, the weather, or you can proceed to senseless babble."

This comment got a smile out of Ian as he opened his eyes and looked at Lucy. "My name's Ian Fairbairn, I'm a history fanatic. My dad has taken me of a lot of his expeditions when I was growing up and over school breaks as well. We went to America for one of dad's studies and so he could meet with a colleague. She was an older lady who thought I was not eating enough and kept giving me thirds. Who eats thirds at each meal? Her food was spicy and she kept trying to give me something called sweet tea. I don't understand it, the tea was cold and it tasted funny."

Lucy blinked and wondered how someone could do that to a perfectly good beverage. "What about school?"

"School, I like school. Big expansive building and all that, it's when you slip and fall down the stairs and watch your books fly over the railing is when my patience with the institution starts to slip."

Lucy giggled; Ian looked at her with unfocused eyes and smiled crookedly.

"You're very nice. Scary, but nice. Not really as mean as I thought you would be."

"What makes me so scary?" She was taken aback by this admission.

"Oh, well, it's the glaring and the obvious intelligence. You're pretty intimating. At least it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who reads their textbooks before the start of the year." His eyes closed and he leaned back against the wall. "I feel pretty safe with you."

Lucy felt her face warm. He thought she was nice, but intimidating. Intelligent and perhaps a little odd for it, he was like her in a few ways. He could be a good friend when he regained consciousness. Lucy preferred her friends' conscious. He felt safe with her. That was nice to hear. She gave Ian another shake as footsteps pounded down the alley behind her. It seemed help had arrived.

Professor Rothschild conjured a stretcher and managed to get Ian on it with barely a blink of an eye. Professor Sullivan ran up to Lucy and helped her to her feet.

Rothschild dashed off with Ian bobbing behind him on the stretcher. Lucy watched until they turned the corner onto the main street and Professor Sullivan put a hand on her shoulder.

"He'll be okay right?" She asked, finally beginning to shake nervously.

"He will be, don't worry about it. You did the right thing to help him. Sending Ollie along to find help was a great idea." Sullivan squeezed her shoulder, an act Lucy associated with her father when he was trying to be comforting. Lucy looked up at him. He seemed to be trying to restrain a smile. "You're always getting into trouble aren't you?"

Lucy shifted her weight awkwardly.

"That's okay, knowing how to respond to odd situations is a good thing to know. You're a good kid. Now let's go back to the castle, I've sent Ollie ahead with the rest of the students. And you're both invited to my office for hot chocolate. Feel free to bring you other friends."

"Sure, that would be nice."

Oo0Oo0

_**Author's Note:** I am so sorry I left you all like that. I got really caught up in school, as I am taking five classes and decided to change my major from English to Communications which has a lot of program options that I was looking at. My plan is to transfer to a four year university at the end of this coming fall semester. Really, this is the most broody and preoccupied I have been in some time. Trust me, no matter how long the wait is between updates I will not abandon a story halfway through. I have plans for this thing. I have a lot of papers to do for school; so don't expect any updates until the semester is out in May. Next chapter in half way done. I'll tell you all more about my plans when I update again. You can all have a nice chuckle at my expense about my strange education adventures. Just letting you know I'm alive._


	7. Battling the Boggart

Chapter Seven: Battling the Boggart

Aubrey and Ollie examined the model train closely. Ollie moved it carefully with his finger on the engine, back and forth as if he had never seen such a clever and amusing toy before. Something like this would be very unique to a wizarding child. Aubrey watched for a moment before turning his attention to the muggle money on display in a glass case with a small 'oh' noise. Lucy peered over his shoulder; she had been unable to wrap her head around the concept of muggle money. Too many coins and papers.

"I collect money," Aubrey explained as he caught Lucy's raised eyebrow. "I like to wander around the city when dad's at work so I need to know about stuff like this. I take the bus to my grandparents home, they're muggles, they prefer it if I arrive in a normal way."

Lucy snorted, "That's a frighteningly closed minded way to see the world."

"I think my magic frightens them."

Lute examined Aubrey quizzically, "You look human to me. Act like it too."

"But if you sprout fangs and develop a desire for blood we will let you know." Lucy turned her attention to Ollie, who after giving the wiseass quip has gone back to examining the train.

"We'll be glad to stake you in that case." Lucy finished, putting a hand on Aubrey's shoulder. "Vampire jokes aside." Aubrey looked at Lucy with a slight smile tugging at his lips. "You have us, if you need to get away for a while let us know. I know my parents would love to have you over."

There were noises of agreement from Lute and Ollie; Ollie reached over to ruffle Aubrey's hair in a manner reminiscent of an older brother.

"Thank you," Aubrey said quietly, his dark eyes moving from the three others with a look of awe. "The same offer goes for the rest of you. My place is kind of dull, but my home is not too far from the shops."

The sound of the classroom door opening caused the four children to turn their heads in a unified motion. Professor Sullivan walked in with a tray with five mugs of cocoa balanced upon it. He set the tray down on his desk and Lucy felt herself salivating at the whipped topping and chocolate on the top. Like a pack of wolves the four children descended upon the delicacy thanking their professor profusely for the gift.

"Anytime, anytime," Sullivan smiled and for a moment Lucy forgot her suspicions about this man's allegiances. Sullivan was a good man who cared about his students. He had proven that, but… Her suspicious nature returned in full force. Nobody is this nice without a reason. People do not take an interest in people unless there was something to gain from the relationship. He had a motive, someone he was working for, and… Maybe someone can still be a good person while having underhanded intentions and motives.

"How's Ian doing professor?" Lucy asked as she wiped the whipped cream off her upper lip on her sleeve, not caring about her manners at the moment. She already knew, she had checked on him earlier with the spyglass. He had been sitting up and appeared to be in some degree of discomfort.

"Better than we thought he would be, thanks to you and Ollie's quick thinking. It was lucky for him that you both found him when you did. He'll be back in class by tomorrow; our lovely healer wants to keep him an extra night."

"That makes sense, he looked pretty bad." Ollie chimed before downing the rest of his cocoa.

Lucy followed his lead, suppressing a contented sigh as the sweet cocoa slid down her throat. Setting the empty mug on the desk she waited patiently for her friends to finish until an incessant pecking at the window caught her and Sullivan's attention.

Sullivan moved quickly to the window to let in the post owl. "Running late again Stella?"

The screech owl made an indignant noise of protest seeming to be blaming another party for her lateness with the paper. Sullivan laughed and untied the prophet from Stella's leg and slipped a few knuts into the bag wrapped around her leg and pulled an owl treat out of his pocket. "Here you go pretty girl. I'll see you in a couple of days." Stella hooted appreciatively and flew out the window into the morning sun.

"Friend of yours, Professor?" Lute asked coyly.

"I have a friend who raises owls for the postal service; I've known Stella since she was an egg." Sullivan walked back to his desk with the paper in his hands. "They retire their owls after a few years of service. Stella will be retiring at the end of the year and then she'll be coming to stay with me. I put in a request to have her deliver my mail here so she can get used to me."

"That's sweet," Lute said. Lucy nodded in agreement.

"She's a good owl, sweet-tempered, she'll be good companion." He opened the front page and let a whoosh of air escape his lips. His eyes softened at he gazed at the picture. "Bianca Harrington is on the front page, it appears she's set to lose her Minister bid to Jack Naramore. I need to flop her later and offer my condolences."

Lucy froze; Bianca Harrington was the woman he wrote about in his journal. Her friends expressions mirrored her own. Did he still love her after all of these years?

Lute recovered quickly, "So you and Miss Harrington are friends?"

"I've known Bianca since the war ended, we were both in need of a friend and have remained such ever since."

Lucy knew he wanted more than friendship at one point at least, maybe he still did.

"When was the last time you saw her?" Lute asked as the boys exchanged a look.

"Before she proclaimed herself a Ministerial candidate, why do you ask?"

Lute shrugged, "Just curious."

Aubrey started to fidget and play with his watch. "Hey, class starts soon. We need to get going."

He held out his arm so everyone could see the time.

"Yeah, we really do. Uncle Harry's coming to teach a lesson in Defense Against the Dark Arts and I don't want to be late." Lucy added as she moved towards the door. "Thank you for having us over Professor."

"Thanks for the hot chocolate." Ollie added as he followed Lucy to the door.

Sullivan shook his head, "It was not a problem, come back when you get the chance."

"Have a nice day." Lute and Aubrey finished in unison as they closed the door behind them.

Lucy waited until they were well down the hallway before speaking. "Well, that was fun."

"No opinions on the Harrington thing?" Ollie jogged a couple of steps to match pace with Lucy and throw an arm over her shoulder to bring her back to a slower walking pace that was used by normal people. "I know you don't like her politics."

"I don't take issue with all of her politics, the reformation may have started with a few good points that they have now taken to an overblown extreme." Lucy slowed her pace and Ollie removed his arm from her shoulder. "They're extremists who started with a good point and now are trying to get a foothold in real government which father was sure they would not be able to manage and he was right. It looks like Sullivan is still in touch with his old Reformation mates."

"If they lost their shot at becoming Minister, what do you think they'll try next?" Lute asked, "Why did they want Harrington in that position if Silvern is the organization leader?"

Aubrey bounced up and down quickly, "She's doesn't speak at the rallies. Silvern's been running the Reformation's show from the front lines for years, when has the public seen Harrington before now? Due to that here association with the reformation is rather loose and she is not seen as a more radical member. It's all about public perception."

Lucy stopped short causing the small boy to walk into her back with a small thud. "She's a new face and voice, Silvern was hoping for the public's reaction to someone new in the public eye to his advantage." She laughed. "I guess it didn't work."

"I'm sure she got votes," Aubrey added as they stopped at the top of the staircase as the four prepared to split into groups of two. "With what support she had, what do you think they'll do with it?"

Lucy shrugged, "I dunno. We'll know eventually."

"See you two at dinner?" Ollie asked as Lucy started walking down the staircase. He took the steps two at a time to walk next to her.

"Yeah, see you later. Let's go Aubrey." Lute hooked her arm with Aubrey's and pulled him off in the opposite direction. "I do not want to be late."

Ollie and Lucy reached the bottom of the stairs and walked down the third floor, a pleasant silence between them.

The boy took a couple of steps in front of her and walked backwards to look at her directly in her eyes. She met his gaze evenly and motioned for him to turn around with the movement of a finger and a smile. Ollie shook his head, and promptly fell over a first year. Lucy laughed as he staggered to his feet and gave a rushed apology to the girl as he helped her to her feet as he gave Lucy a sheepish smile with pink cheeks. The girl gave Ollie a hard glare as she ran off to rejoin her giggling friends.

The gathering group of third years at the classroom door were talking loudly and excitedly. Lucy and Ollie found themselves at the back and the last students to enter the classroom.

Uncle Harry was not what Lucy would consider a terribly imposing, or intimating man at first glance. By the second glance he was normally recognized and suddenly became very intimidating. Being the man who defeated one of the most powerful dark wizards of all time and the Head of the Auror department was nothing to sneeze at. She straightened in her chair and folded her hands properly on the desk. He was here to teach a class, Lucy intended to learn as much as she could from him. After all, she thought it would be rude to ask him about his work, she did not want to create an awkward situation by asking the wrong thing. At least in a school environment questions would seem more acceptable.

Ollie rose a few inches out of his chair to look over the large curly Afro of the boy in front of him. Lucy propped her elbow on the small stack of books she pulled out of her bag and rested her chin on her hand as the class rumbled with whispers. Uncle Harry was still the most famous wizard alive and with that fame came admiration. It was well-deserved admiration.

Lucy did not see Harry very much, she saw her Aunt Ginny a little more when she stopped in to talk to her mother on her way to hand deliver her quidditch columns to the Daily Prophet. Her uncle was a rather quiet man. Unlike his eldest son who was currently talking to his father from his seat in the middle of the classroom, it was a rather loud conversation that was half-drowned out by the talking from the other students. Professor Rothschild was sitting behind the desk appearing to be going over some papers.

The professor finally set aside his papers and got to his feet. "Okay, quiet everyone." He motioned for everyone to sit down and waited until the class was silent before speaking again. "I'm sure you all know who this man is, but just in case you don't this is my former boss, and he brought something for all of you to study for class today. I promise this will be fun." He tried to give them a natural smile that did not look as natural as he might have hoped; it was like his face was unfamiliar with the action.

"On another note, we are going to start our extracurricular dueling club in a couple of weeks, there will be a notice on the boards by Tuesday. I hope to see you all there. Now I'm going to give you all over to Mr. Potter for the rest of the class. I will be observing and assisting if necessary."

"Alright, thanks for that introduction Seward. If all of you could follow me across the hall, we'll get started." He motioned for the class to stand up and he walked towards the door. The class hot on his heels. Lucy and Ollie were stopped by the flow of students going out this time and waited until the coast was clear before following with Professor Rothschild who gave them both a look of understanding, he did not seem to like the idea of getting rundown students either.

Uncle Harry was kind enough to wait until the stragglers were inside before walking to the center of the room to stank next to a lone trunk. Lucy and Ollie managed to move through the crowd for a better look stared at it curiously as it rattled and shook suddenly causing many of her classmates to flinch and watch it wearily. "Inside this trunk is something one of my aurors found while on as assignment, I thought it would be a good idea for you to learn about what's inside and I'm a fan of the hands on approach to things."

The class leaned forward in a nervous excitement.

"Does anyone here know what a boggart is?"

Ollie's hand beat Lucy's into the air by half a second. "It's a creature that forms into a witch or wizard's worst fear. Nobody knows what its natural form looks like. It prefers dark enclosed spaces like that trunk there."

"Excellent Mister Wood, take five points for Gryffindor." Rothschild said beaming as he leaned back against the wall in the back of the room.

"When a witch or wizard faces a boggart, there is a very simple spell that is used. Despite what Professor Rothschild says, overcoming a boggart is not about using force and powerful magic." Professor Rothschild laughed. "It's about laughter." There were some blank stares and a few murmurs from the back. "I know, it does not seem very likely, but it is true. Defeating a boggart is about acknowledging your fear and making it funny. Subduing one is about knowing yourself at the most basic level, acknowledging that fear and controlling it. Now," he took out his wand, "repeat after me." The class took out their wands ready to mimic his movements. "_Riddikulus._"

The class repeated the spell and swished their wands as they did so.

"Excellent, now who wants to go first?"

James smiled confidently as he stepped forward. "I'll go first." His friends Dylan and Liam clapped him on the back while Fred ruffled his hair while Lucy rolled her eyes. Only James would volunteer to fight an opponent that he knew little or nothing about. He was dumb like that. No sense of strategy. Harry opened the truck with a flick of his wand and stepped back. There was a loud bang and a hiss as the boggart emerged from the confines of the trunk. Lucy blinked. It looked like James. A _lonely_ looking James. The boggart was hunched over in a pose similar to one Lucy defaulted to when she was trying to make herself smaller and unnoticed by the people nearby, mostly at family parties. Arms crossed, and rubbing her arms as if she was cold. She took a quick glance at James who was staring at the boggart with something akin to shock. He raised his wand muttering the spell as he did so. The boggart bent itself backwards at an unnatural angle and sprang back now with the appearance of a clown causing laughter among those assembled, except for that one lone scream from the back of the room.

"Well, that was appropriate," Ollie whispered as they moved to the back of the line. "Your cousin is very social, so being afraid of being alone makes perfect sense."

"I somehow don't think _he_ expected it to be his worst fear."

"I don't think he did either."

Fred went next and he was looking at James wearily, for James looked like he was in deep thought. A troubling expression at any other time. Fred stared at the chest as it popped open and what Lucy thought at first was her Uncle George sprung out. She tilted her head and squinted at it, before noticing this figure was much younger than her Uncle and had both ears. Oh, this must be their dead uncle. Uncle George's twin.

A rush of pity filled Lucy's belly. She was lucky her parents had gone with a living war hero theme. At least her grandmother and godmother could enjoy the honor; she knew her namesake and godmother Lucia personally. She was kind, proud, and did not let things in life get her down. Lucy knew she could never be her godmother. She was far too serious to properly emulate a woman that openly in love with life and freedom in her opinion. Molly seemed a little intimated by their grandmother, but they were very much alike. Unlike them, Fred had a long shadow of a dead man that hunted his every step.

She shivered. Her parents were wise in their choices in names. Lucy decided to thank them someday.

Her boggart-uncle suddenly turned into her cousin Fred who was doing something with a box of explosives. The faux-explosives lit up with a loud scream from boggart-Fred causing laughter from the children in the room before Harry motioned another student forward.

Adelaide continued to chortle until the boggart turned into a very large snake with two-foot long fangs that made Lucy cringe. Ollie gave a low whistle and leaned forward for a better look while Lucy gave him a cool look from the corner of her eyes.

Ollie caught her stare. "What?"

Adelaide's serpent turned into a balloon that quickly propelled itself across the room with a loud screaming noise. Lucy laughed as it hit the floor and her uncle motioned for Liam to step forward, he yelped as the boggart turned into a clown. He gave a laugh of satisfaction as it smiled so widely it's head popped like a balloon.

Over the course of the rest of the lesson a group of mice shed their fur, and a dragon spitting water instead of fire. Followed by a Jack Russell terrier meowing like cat. Finally a large spider that wound up on roller skates.

Soon only Lucy and Ollie were left and when her uncle Lucy stepped forward quickly, entirely sure her claustrophobia would manifest in a physical form. She could manage that! Lucy gave the black smoke of the boggart an even stare giving a passing thought to the charm, gripping her wand tightly. The smoke twitched, recognizing a new target to terrorize. Lucy waited with baited breath.

The smoke began to solidify to a human figure. Lucy paused, sucking in a hollow breath as it walked calmly towards her with his arm outstretched and his wand pointed at her head. Her breathing grew shallow; not an amusing thought came to her mind. How could she make a man who tried murder her and Ollie funny? She sank to her knees, sucked in a breath and prepared for a quick end to her short life.

She barely heard the whisper of her uncle's movement in front of her and only barely saw the No-Face shift into a figure in a black hood, before quickly being banished back into the wardrobe. There was a hand on her shoulder, a familiar voice telling her to get up, that it was gone and everything was okay.

"Luce, it's gone. It's gone. C'mon."

It was Ollie speaking, his voice was comforting and leading her slowly back to reality and out of the forest. Because if Ollie was here, Lucy would be fine. If he was still here, she could press on.

"Are you okay?" Ollie asked, the whispers of the other students fading into nothingness.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"Good," He paused and Lucy noticed her uncle and the teacher dismissing the class. Ollie grinned; Lucy noticed for the first time that the hand on her shoulder was shaking. "I'm glad I was at the end of the line, I really don't fancy showing my year-mates my worst fears."

"Could make you closer," Lucy joked as she tried to stand on her weak, shaking knees.

Ollie laughed nervously, "I'm a bloke, I don't think we go for that sort of stuff."

"I'm a girl and I don't either."

"Yes, but you're a little different." The grip on her shoulder tightened as he led her to the open door. "Let's go find something to eat."

"Do you always think about food?"

"Yep, a few more time a day then you do." He took his hand off her shoulder as Grimalkin appeared at Lucy's feet and weaved himself around her ankles. "Hey Grim."

The cat head-butted Ollie's leg affectionately before returning his attentions to Lucy, Lucy was glad to see him. Grimalkin mewed and Lucy scooped him up and cuddled him to her chest. He started to purr and Lucy felt her heartbeat begin to slow. Her stress level lowering and another wave of security washed over her like cool water.

It was going to be all right. None of it was real.

She had nothing to fear.

Oo0Oo0

Lucy left her text book open in her lap as Ollie laid claim to the couch with a down comforter he had brought from home. It was midnight and Lucy was not able to sleep. The boggart had shaken her more than she cared to admit. Ollie was half-asleep on the couch, he had refused to go up to his dorm and leave Lucy alone in the common room. Besides, Grimalkin had decided to sleep on Ollie's kneecaps and Lucy knew from personal experience that there would be hell to pay if he decided to remove the cat from his position.

The face of her enemy swam before her eyes each time her eyes drifted to the page. The Diagon Massacre, the fight in the forest… If Lucy had been anyone else, she would have begun to cry. Lucy had always been a little different on the handling of extreme emotions. Shut it down, ignore it, and it will go away. It worked normally. Today it was not working. Lucy thought it would be reassuring to look at the mask in a safe environment, but she was not prepared for the terror that came with that copy.

As Lucy tended to do, she began to wonder.

"Hey Ollie, are you awake."

There was a muffled noise from the couch as Ollie buried himself deeper under the feather comforter.

"What do you think you would have seen if you had gotten to face the boggart?"

Ollie popped his head out of the nest he had made for himself and rubbed his eyes and tried to muffle a yawn. "I dunno."

"Well, what do you fear most?" Lucy shifted as she tucked her knees beneath her and looked at Ollie evenly who was stretching his arms over his head and laying back on the pillow he had brought down from his dorm. He made a non-communal noise as he tried to get comfortable. Grimalkin opened one green eye to a slit to stare at the boy who had dared to move.

"If I did know what I was afraid of why would you want to know?"

Lucy had a reason, "The good of the Order, I need to information to make sound tactical decisions. I need to know every member of the group inside and out, and better then they know themselves."

Ollie blinked, he did not respond to Lucy's statement for a couple of seconds before breaking his baffled expression to one of amusement. "If you must know my favorite color is blue," his voice dropped to a whisper, "and I have a secret fondness for azaleas."

There was a muffled laugh from Lucy at the statement. "C'mon Ollie."

He paused and Lucy noticed the tension on his face. "I think I would have seen the Faceless, same as you did. That night in the forest," He took a deep breath, "I hope I never feel like that ever again. That man would have killed us in cold blood and enjoyed it instead of obliviating us and going on about his business." He moved a hand over his throat slowly. Lucy knew immediately what he was thinking about. "I don't want to end up in the position where I need to barter for your life again." Ollie sighed, "I guess what I fear is the same thing you do."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__I like the thought of James being afraid of being alone. When have we ever seen James by himself? I think sometimes the things we fear most are not represented in the physical world. I don't think he knows how to be by himself. _

_ That encounter at the end of book one was very traumatizing for both Lucy and Ollie. Lucy could come up with no way to mock her own terror because she could not find anything about the Faceless amusing. Those scars run to deep. Ollie is not entirely sure what he's truly afraid of. He says his fear is the same as Lucy's, and to a point it may be, but there's a little more under the surface of that confession. _

_ On another note, I would like to let you all know what's going in my academic career. I took 5 classes this semester, my grades are a B, C, and three A's. I am taking 2 summer classes in Spanish on June 4__th__ and (hopefully) July. And fall semester is my last one at the local community college where I take my final four classes. One of them is a night class that is once a week; it's the only time this class I need to graduate is offered. I'm laughing on the inside about that. I'll be transferring spring semester to a university. So I'll have very little time to get things together for the transfer. When I transfer I'll change my major from Mass Communications to Global Studies and pick a focus upon my arrival._

_ In other news, I have a new toy. I now have a drawing tablet, so maybe I can draw out some covers for my stories at some point. I'm doing Mask of Gold first and it's finished. I just need to convert the file. I'm learning how to use this tablet in three to four hour sessions. _

_ And Name Definition time: Seward- Derived from the Old English words for Victory and Guard._

_ Rothschild- German and Jewish usage, meaning Red Sign, and Shield._


End file.
